Compliance with prenatal care visits in substance abusers.
OBJECTIVE
We sought to determine whether pregnant, inner-city substance abusers, cared for in a multidisciplinary setting, had comparable numbers of missed appointments and similar outcomes in comparison with a low-risk patient population.


METHODS
A retrospective review was conducted on a sample of 97 patients with uncomplicated prenatal care over a 7-year period (1994-2001). They were compared to a sample of 88 substance abusers cared for and delivered at Bellevue Hospital over the same period. Demographic information was recorded, as well as frequency of prenatal visits, number of missed appointments, birth weight, and gestational age at delivery.


RESULTS
In our population, substance abusers were found to be significantly older (28.9 vs. 25.6 years, p < 0.0001), had had more pregnancies (4.3 vs. 2.4, p < 0.0001) and had had more children (2.0 vs. 0.7, p < 0.0001) than controls. Both substance abusers and control patients had a similar number of scheduled appointments (11.4 in each group, p = 0.99), but substance abusers missed more appointments (1.6 vs. 0.7, p < 0.0005).


CONCLUSIONS
When cared for in a multidisciplinary setting, substance abusers will attend an adequate number of prenatal visits. However, they are still more likely than non-substance abusers to miss visits, although the difference may not be clinically significant.
Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Sciences, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, Connecticut 06520-8063, USA.
E F
EF
Funai
J
J
White
M J
MJ
Lee
M
M
Allen
E
E
Kuczynski
D000328:Adult; D001741:Black or African American / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D001213:Asian / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D005260:Female; D020073:Gravidity; D006630:Hispanic or Latino / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006801:Humans; D008423:Maternal Age; D010298:Parity; D010349:Patient Compliance; D011247:Pregnancy; D011295:Prenatal Care / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D019966:Substance-Related Disorders / Q000208:ethnology; D044465:White People / Q000706:statistics & numerical data