title: Effects of age on perinatal substance abuse among whites and African Americans.
abstract: This descriptive study assessed age effects on perinatal use of alcohol, marijuana, and cocaine among African-American and white women. Data were derived from the California Perinatal Exposure Study, relying on a statistical probability sample n = 29,494) of women who underwent anonymous urine toxicology screening in birthing hospitals. The central hypothesis was that there would be no difference in age effects on drug use among white and African-American women. Marital status and payment source were used as risk factors in order to create detailed age-risk profiles for both racial-ethnic groups. Logistic regression analyses were used and findings indicated that cocaine use peaked in early adulthood for whites and in mid-adulthood for African-Americans who had higher prevalence levels with the same or fewer risk factors as whites. Over one third of African-American women in their mid-thirties who were not married and who had publicly assisted births tested positive for cocaine. In contrast, high risk whites had higher marijuana prevalence levels than African-American women, and prevalence increased with age. Alcohol prevalence increased with age for African-American and white women who were publicly assisted, but decreased with age for all others. Findings for alcohol and marijuana generally followed the same risk-adjusted patterns for African American and white women but with different prevalence levels; however, cocaine use had a unique pattern with higher prevalence among African-American women in mid-adulthood regardless of risk level.
authors.affiliation: School of Public Health, University of California, Berkeley 94720, USA.
authors.forename: W A
authors.initials: WA
authors.lastname: Vega
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Kolody
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Porter
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Noble
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001741:Black or African American / Q000523:psychology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D000367:Age Factors; D000437:Alcoholism / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000523:psychology; D002140:California / Q000453:epidemiology; D003042:Cocaine; D003431:Cross-Cultural Comparison; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D002189:Marijuana Abuse / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000523:psychology; D008403:Mass Screening; D011247:Pregnancy; D011248:Pregnancy Complications / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000523:psychology; D011632:Public Assistance / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D012307:Risk Factors; D019966:Substance-Related Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000523:psychology; D044465:White People / Q000523:psychology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*
chemical_list: D003042:Cocaine