Alcohol consumption and abstention among pregnant Japanese women.
BACKGROUND
In order to clarify the alcohol consumption status of pregnant women in Japan and the characteristics of pregnant women who abstained from alcohol after their pregnancy had been confirmed, a nationwide questionnaire-based study of alcohol consumption behavior was performed. We also examined the factors associated with alcohol consumption during pregnancy and abstention after the confirmation of pregnancy.


METHODS
After random sampling, 260 institutions participated in the survey; these were selected from a list of survey points fixed by the Japan Association of Obstetricians and Gynecologists. The study was conducted on pregnant women with confirmed pregnancies by using self-administered anonymous questionnaires during the period from February 1 through 14, 2002.


RESULTS
Alcohol consumption during pregnancy was reported in 11.1% of the study participants, and abstention after the confirmation of pregnancy, in 76.9%. Significant associations were recognized between higher education and both alcohol consumption during pregnancy and abstention after pregnancy confirmation. Furthermore, alcohol consumption was significantly associated with parity, smoking, and shorter sleep duration, whereas abstention was significantly associated with less frequent alcohol consumption and knowledge regarding the risk of alcohol consumption.


CONCLUSIONS
The results clarified the factors associated with alcohol consumption during pregnancy and abstention after the confirmation of pregnancy in Japan.
Yamamoto
Yuko
Y
Division of Public Health, Department of Social Medicine, Nihon University School of Medicine, Kamimachi, Tokyo, Japan.
Kaneita
Yoshitaka
Y
Yokoyama
Eise
E
Sone
Tomofumi
T
Takemura
Shinji
S
Suzuki
Kenshu
K
Kaneko
Akiyo
A
Ohida
Takashi
T
D000328:Adult; D000428:Alcohol Drinking / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000523:psychology; D035041:Anonymous Testing; D005260:Female; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006801:Humans; D007564:Japan / Q000453:epidemiology; D011247:Pregnancy / Q000523:psychology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D011295:Prenatal Care / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D012307:Risk Factors; D012650:Self Disclosure; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D013695:Temperance / Q000523:psychology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D016387:Women's Health