Prevalence of prenatal alcohol use among Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal women in the Northern Territory, Australia: estimate from perinatal, emergency, and admission datasets.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Prenatal Alcohol Use (PAU) has detrimental effects on mothers and their children. Robust estimates of the prevalence of PAU and associated risk factors are critical for informing interventions to reduce adverse health impacts. This study aimed to estimate the prevalence and risk factors of PAU among Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal mothers in the Northern Territory of Australia.

Methods

We used linked individual-level records from the NT perinatal register, hospital admissions, and emergency department presentations to estimate the prevalence of PAU for all 19,588 births to NT-resident women from 2013 to 2017. Permutation analysis was used to create four PAU categories: no PAU, early PAU (alcohol use in early pregnancy only), continued PAU (alcohol use in early and l

SUBMITTER: Derseh B 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12534924 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature