Do women give the same information on binge drinking during pregnancy when asked repeatedly?

Abstract

Objective: To study if pregnant women give the same answers to questions on frequency and timing of binge drinking when asked more than once during and after pregnancy. Design: Cohort study. Setting: The Danish National Birth Cohort. Subjects: The study is based on 76 307 pregnant women with repeated information on binge drinking during the early part of pregnancy and 8933 pregnant women with information on binge drinking during pregnancy weeks 30-36, obtained while pregnant and 6 months after delivery. Results: More women reported binge drinking, if the interview took place close to the period in question. As the report of binge drinking was highest in the first of two interviews referring to the same period, as well as women who participated in the first interview in pregnancy week 12 or earlier reported more binge drinking compared to women who participated in the interview later in pregnancy. Conclusions: Self-reported information on binge drinking is more frequently under-reported when the recall period is long. To improve the validity of data on binge drinking, future birth cohorts should obtain information several times during pregnancy.

Characteristics of women who binge drink before and after they become aware of their pregnancy

“…Lack of recall may also have affected the quality of the information on binge drinking. In a previous study we showed that the reports on binge drinking were affected by the length of the recall period and information obtained in early pregnancy resulted in a higher proportion of binge drinkers [24]. Around one-third of the participants in the DNBC were interviewed in the second half of pregnancy and may have forgotten actual episodes of binge drinking.…”

Maternal alcohol drinking pattern during pregnancy and the risk for an offspring with an isolated congenital heart defect and in particular a ventricular septal defect or an atrial septal defect

“…of the recall period, and short recall results in a higher proportion of binge drinkers (Strandberg-Larsen et al, 2006). In the DNBC, the recall period was relatively short, because data were collected around week 16 and again in week 31.…”

Repeated ethanol exposure during late gestation decreases nephron endowment in fetal sheep

“…In addition, 28.5% of pregnant women in the USA report engaging in a binge-drinking session at some point during their pregnancy, defined as consuming a minimum of four standard drinks within 3 h (38). This may be an underestimate (41) as many do not recall accurately how much alcohol they consumed (24,36).…”