Alcohol consumption during pregnancy and risk of small-for-gestational-age newborn

Abstract

Background: Contradictory results have been published on the association of alcohol consumption during pregnancy with perinatal outcomes, including the risk of small for gestational age newborn.

Aim: To determine whether alcohol consumption during pregnancy is associated with the risk of small for gestational age newborn.

Method: A case-control study with 518 pairs of pregnant Spanish women in five hospitals was conducted; cases were women with small for gestational age newborn and age-matched (±2years) controls were women with non-small for gestational age newborn. Data were gathered on demographic characteristics, socioeconomic status, toxic habits, and diet. Alcohol intake was recorded with a self-administered 137 food frequency questionnaire and with a personal interview, Alcohol intake was categorized -. Agreement in alcohol intake results between direct interview and frequency food questionnaire was evaluated with the Kappa index. Crude and adjusted odds ratios and their 95% confidence intervals were estimated by conditional logistic regression.

Findings: Poor agreement was observed between food frequency questionnaire and personal interview results for both cases (κ=0.23) and controls (κ=0.14). A food frequency questionnaire-recorded intake of less than 4g/day was associated with a significantly lower odds ratios for small for gestational age newborn (odds ratios=0.62, 95% confidence intervals, 0.43-0.88), whereas an interview-recorded intake of <4g/day was not related to small for gestational age newborn (odds ratios=0.86, 95% confidence intervals, 0.49-1.54).

Conclusions: A very moderate alcohol intake during pregnancy may have a negative association with the risk of having a small for gestational age newborn.

Keywords: Alcohol intake; Lifestyle; Pregnancy; SGA; Self-report.