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Introduction The objective of this systematic review is to describe polysubstance studies and their prevalence estimates among pregnant people in the US. Methods This review was not subject to protocol preparation or registration with the International Prospective Register of Systematic Reviews (PROSPERO) because outcome data were not reported. The Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) Checklist was followed. Four scientific literature databases were used to identify articles published from January 1, 2009 to June 3, 2020 reporting prenatal exposure to two or more substances in the US. A standardized process of title and abstract screening followed by a two-phase full-text review was used to assess study eligibility. Results A total of 119 studies were included: 7 case-control studies, 7 clinical trials, 76 cohort studies, and 29 cross-sectional studies. Studies varied with respect to study design, time period, region, sampling and participant selection, substances assessed, and method of exposure ascertainment. Commonly reported polysubstance prevalence estimates among studies of pregnant people included combinations with alcohol, marijuana, and/or tobacco/nicotine. The range of prevalence estimates was wide (alcohol 1-99%; marijuana 3-95%; tobacco/nicotine 2-95%). Discussion Polysubstance use during pregnancy is common, especially with alcohol, marijuana, and/or tobacco/nicotine. Future research to assess polysubstance use during pregnancy could help better describe patterns and ultimately help mitigate its effects on maternal and infant health outcomes., Author(s): Emmy L. Tran [sup.1] [sup.2] , Lucinda J. England [sup.1] , Youngjoo Park [sup.1] [sup.3] , Clark H. Denny [sup.1] , Shin Y. Kim [sup.1] Author Affiliations: (1) grid.453445.7, [...]

ObjectivesDescribe tobacco companies' marketing strategies targeting low socioeconomic status (SES) females in the U.S.A.MethodsAnalysis of previously secret tobacco industry documents.ResultsTobacco companies focused marketing on low SES women starting in the late 1970s, including military wives, low-income inner-city minority women, 'discount-susceptible' older female smokers and less-educated young white women. Strategies included distributing discount coupons with food stamps to reach the very poor, discount offers at point-of-sale and via direct mail to keep cigarette prices low, developing new brands for low SES females and promoting luxury images to low SES African-American women. More recently, companies integrated promotional strategies targeting low-income women into marketing plans for established brands.ConclusionsTobacco companies used numerous marketing strategies to reach low SES females in the U.S.A. for at least four decades. Strategies to counteract marketing to low SES women could include (1) counteracting price discounts and direct mail coupons that reduce the price of tobacco products, (2) instituting restrictions on point-of-sale advertising and retail display and (3) creating counteradvertising that builds resistance to psychosocial targeting of low SES women. To achieve health equity, tobacco control efforts are needed to counteract the influence of tobacco industry marketing to low-income women.

Background: Studies evaluating the association between prenatal ultrasounds and autism spectrum disorder (ASD) have largely produced negative results. Concern remains due to the rising identification of children with ASD and ultrasound use. Objective: To evaluate the association between prenatal ultrasound use and ASD. Methods: We used data from the Study to Explore Early Development, a multisite case‐control study of preschool‐aged children with ASD implemented during 2007–2012. We recruited cases from children receiving developmental disability services and randomly selected population controls from birth records. ASD case status was based on in‐person standardised assessments. We stratified analyses by pre‐existing maternal medical conditions and pregnancy complications associated with increased ultrasound use (ultrasound indications) and used logistic regression to model case status by increasing ultrasound counts. For pregnancies with medical record data on ultrasound timing, we conducted supplementary tests to model associations by trimester of exposure. Results: Among 1524 singleton pregnancies, ultrasound indications were more common for ASD cases than controls; respectively, for each group, no indications were reported for 45.1% and 54.2% of pregnancies, while ≥2 indications were reported for 26.1% and 18.4% of pregnancies. The percentage of pregnancies with multiple ultrasounds varied by case status and the presence of ultrasound indications. However, stratified regression models showed no association between increasing ultrasound counts and case status, either for pregnancies without (aOR 1.01, 95% CI 0.92, 1.11) or with ultrasound indications (aOR 1.01, 95% CI 0.95, 1.08). Trimester‐specific analyses using medical record data showed no association in any individual trimester. Conclusions: We found no evidence that prenatal ultrasound use increases ASD risk. Study strengths included gold‐standard assessments for ASD case classification, comparison of cases with controls, and a stratified sample to account for conditions associated both with increased prenatal ultrasound use and ASD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Bone development, casein-free diet use, supplements, and medications were assessed for 75 boys with autism or autism spectrum disorder, ages 4-8 years. Second metacarpal bone cortical thickness (BCT), measured on hand-wrist radiographs, and % deviations in BCT from reference medians were derived. BCT increased with age, but % deviations evidenced a progressive fall-off (p = 0.02): +3.1 [plus or minus] 4.7%, -6.5 [plus or minus] 4.0%, -16.6 [plus or minus] 3.4%, -19.4 [plus or minus] 3.7%, -24.1 [plus or minus] 4.4%, at ages 4-8, respectively, adjusting for height. The 12% of the boys on casein-free diets had an overall % deviation of -18.9 [plus or minus] 3.7%, nearly twice that of boys on minimally restricted or unrestricted diets (-10.5 [plus or minus] 1.3%, p less than 0.04), although even for boys on minimally restricted or unrestricted diets the % deviation was highly significant (p less than 0.001). Our data suggest that the bone development of autistic boys should be monitored as part of routine care, especially if they are on casein-free diets.

The objectives are to report the estimated prevalence of pregnancy complications and adverse pregnancy outcomes in a defined population of Alaska Native women and also examine factors contributing to an intensive and successful collaboration between a tribal health center and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Investigators abstracted medical record data from a random sample of singleton deliveries to residents of the study region occurring between 1997 and 2005. We used descriptive statistics to estimate the prevalence and 95% confidence intervals of selected pregnancy complications and adverse pregnancy outcomes. Records were examined for 505 pregnancies ending in a singleton delivery to 469 women. Pregnancy complication rates were 5.9% (95% CI 4.0, 8.4) for gestational diabetes mellitus, 6.1% (95% CI 4.2, 8.6%) for maternal chronic hypertension and 11.5% (95% CI 8.8, 14.6) for pregnancy associated hypertension, and 22.9% (95% CI 19.2-26.5%) for anemia. The cesarean section rate was 5.5% (95% CI 3.5, 7.5) and 3.8% (95% CI 2.3, 5.8) of newborns weighed > 4,500 g. Few previous studies reported pregnancy outcomes among Alaska Native women in a specific geographic region of Alaska and regarding the health needs in this population. We highlight components of our collaboration that contributed to the success of the study. Studies focusing on special populations such as Alaska Native women are feasible and can provide important information on health indicators at the local level. Keywords Alaska Native * Pregnancy * Collaboration, Background Although women of childbearing age and infants comprise approximately 46% of Alaska's native population [1], few population-based studies of the health status of Alaska Native women and infants have [...]

The objective of the study was to assess if small- and large-for gestational age term infants have greater health care utilization during the first year of life. The sample included 28,215 singleton term infants (37-42 weeks) without major birth defects delivered from 1998 through 2007 and continuously enrolled at Kaiser Permanente Northwest for 12 months after delivery. Birth weight for gestational age was categorized into 3 levels: < 10th percentile (SGA), 10-90th percentile (AGA), > 90th percentile (LGA). Length of delivery hospitalization, re-hospitalizations and sick/emergency room visits were obtained from electronic records. Logistic regression models estimated associations between birth weight category and re-hospitalization. Generalized linear models estimated adjusted mean number of sick/emergency visits. Among term infants, 6.2% were SGA and 13.9% were LGA. Of infants born by cesarean section, SGA infants had 2.7 higher odds [95% 1.9, 3.8] than AGA infants of staying [greater than or equal to] 5 nights during the delivery hospitalization; of those born vaginally, SGA infants had 1.5 higher adjusted odds [95% 1.1, 2.1] of staying [greater than or equal to] 4 nights. LGA compared to AGA infants had higher odds of re-hospitalization within 2 weeks of delivery [OR 1.25, 95% CI 0.99, 1.58] and of a length of stay [greater than or equal to] 4 days during that hospitalization [OR 2.6, 95% CI 1.3, 5.0]. The adjusted mean number of sick/ emergency room visits was slightly higher in SGA (7.8) than AGA (7.5) infants (P < .05). Term infants born SGA or LGA had greater health care utilization than their counterparts, although the increase in utilization beyond the initial delivery hospitalization was small. Keywords Low birth weight * Fetal growth restriction * Large for gestational age * Macrosomia * Health care utilization, Introduction Infants born small--(SGA) and large--for-gestational age (LGA) experience greater health complications shortly after birth compared to infants born appropriate for gestational age (AGA). SGA infants experience greater risk of [...]

Objectives. We sought to estimate the effect of universal implementation of a clinic-based, psychosocial smoking cessation intervention for pregnant women. Methods. We used data from US birth certificates (2005) and the Pregnancy Risk Assessment Monitoring System (2004) to estimate the number of women smoking at conception. To calculate the number of women eligible to receive the cessation intervention, we used estimates from the literature of the percentage of women who quit spontaneously (23%), entered prenatal care before the third trimester (96.5%), and disclosed smoking to their provider (75%). We used the pooled relative risk (RR) for continued smoking from the 2004 Cochrane Review as our measure of the intervention's effectiveness (RR=0.94). Results. We estimated that 944240 women smoked at conception. Of these, 23.0% quit spontaneously, 6.3% quit with usual care, and an additional 3.3% quit because of the intervention, leaving 67.4% smoking throughout pregnancy. The calculated smoking prevalence in late pregnancy decreased from 16.4% to 15.6% because of the intervention. Conclusions. Universal implementation of a best-practice, clinic-based intervention would increase the total number of quitters but would not substantially reduce smoking prevalence among pregnant women. doi:10.2105/AJPH.2008.144485)

The development of preeclampsia can be predicted through increased levels of soluble fms-like tyrosine kinase 1 and reduced levels of placental growth factor. A controlled study within the calcium for preeclampsia prevention trial which involved healthy nulliparous women was conducted.