Characteristics of grandmothers who have grandchildren with fetal alcohol syndrome or incomplete fetal alcohol syndrome.
BACKGROUND
Characteristics of Northern Plains American Indian maternal grandmothers who had grandchildren with fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS) or incomplete FAS are described to more effectively prevent fetal FAS and alcohol use during pregnancy.


METHODS
Study 1 had 27 maternal grandmothers who had grandchildren with FAS and Study 2 had 18 grandmothers with grandchildren who had incomplete FAS (cases) which were compared with 119 maternal grandmothers who had grandchildren without FAS (controls). The grandchildren were born between 1981 and 1993 on the Northern Plains. Medical records were manually reviewed for each case and control grandmother. Data were analyzed using Mantel-Haenszel chi square.


RESULTS
Study 1 case grandmothers were more likely to experience medical problems (70.4%) including trauma (48.1%) and injuries (51.9%) than the controls. Most of the Study 1 and 2 case grandmothers (92.6% and 77.8%, respectively) had alcohol use documented in their medical records compared to less than half of the control grandmothers. Seven (15.6%) of the case grandmothers had more than one grandchild in either Study 1 or Study 2.


CONCLUSIONS
Maternal grandmothers who had grandchildren with FAS had significantly higher rates of alcohol use and alcohol-related medical problems than control grandmothers. Antenatal care providers should screen pregnant women for alcohol use at their first visit. The provider needs to ask the women who are using alcohol about their mothers' use of alcohol to provide appropriate care and counseling for the women and prevent FAS.
Kvigne
Valborg L
VL
Aberdeen Area Indian Health Service, Aberdeen, SD, USA. kvig6@aol.com
Leonardson
Gary R
GR
Borzelleca
Joseph
J
Welty
Thomas K
TK
D000328:Adult; D000437:Alcoholism / Q000150:complications / Q000453:epidemiology*; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005195:Family Relations; D005260:Female; D063647:Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000209:etiology; D006801:Humans; D007198:Indians, North American; D016901:Intergenerational Relations; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015146:Midwestern United States / Q000453:epidemiology; D016017:Odds Ratio; D011247:Pregnancy; D015995:Prevalence; D012307:Risk Factors