[Alcohol and pregnancy: advantage of a screening questionnaire -- a population study].

INTRODUCTION

Foetal consequences of an alcoholic exposure in utero may vary according to the intensity of that exposure. A dose-threshold below which alcohol consumption by a pregnant woman would be harmless has not been highlighted. In spite of the recommendations of total abstinence, women's percentage declaring a posteriori to have had a contact with alcohol during pregnancy remains relatively high. We intended to estimate the performance of an auto-questionnaire for the screening of these consumptions. This questionnaire also had to assess the information received by the women about the dangers to consume alcohol during pregnancy.

METHOD: The questionnaire was distributed to 500 patients in the obstetric consultations of two hospitals.

RESULTS

63.4% of questionnaires were returned to us; 6.3% of the patients declared an alcohol consumption during pregnancy; 77% considered themselves as sufficiently informed about the question and more than half quoted the healthcare professionals as the information source. The satisfaction as for the received information was significantly connected to behaviour of reducing or giving up the alcohol consumption.

DISCUSSION: The representativeness of the sample is good with characteristics close to the general population. The sensibility of our questionnaire is superior to that of the standard obstetric interview but stays below the a posteriori evaluations (perinatal investigation). The recommendation of abstinence and the reasons of this recommendation remain relatively underestimated by the general public. The accent should consequently be put on prevention and systematic information.