Trends in diagnosed drug problems among newborns: United States, 1979-1987.
Between 1979 and 1987, there was an estimated 361% increase in the number of drug-affected newborns discharged from the 6000 non-federal, short-stay hospitals in the United States. Per 10,000 newborns, the rate increased 339%, mostly occurring after 1983. The estimated number of drug affected newborns in 1987 was about 13,000 (95% confidence interval: 10,000-15,000). Recognizing that underreporting could have occurred, multiplicative correction factors derived from the literature were employed to produce 'adjusted' estimates. While somewhat arbitrary, the number of drug-affected newborns, adjusted for underreporting, was about 38,000 (95% confidence interval: 30,000-45,000). Both adjusted and unadjusted estimates of the numbers of newborns identified as drug-affected by the present study is much smaller than most of the estimates reported in the literature. Possible reasons for this finding are discussed.
National Institute on Drug Abuse, Division of Applied Research, Rockville, MD 20857.
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Dicker
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Leighton
D001723:Birth Rate; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D013287:Illicit Drugs / Q000009:adverse effects*; D015994:Incidence; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008297:Male; D009357:Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology*; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology
D013287:Illicit Drugs