The biologic and social consequences of perinatal cocaine use in an inner-city population: results of an anonymous cross-sectional study

Article Abstract:

A study of cocaine use by pregnant women was undertaken in an attempt to avoid the biases noted in other published reports; many previous studies have used subjects who attended drug treatment centers or who volunteered to participate. The current study focused on an unselected population of 846 women who delivered infants at an inner-city hospital in New York City between October 18, 1988 and March 1, 1989. Urine samples were obtained from the patients within 24 hours of their admission to the hospital, and data concerning demographic characteristics, history of drug use, and pregnancy outcome measures were recorded. Pediatricians evaluated all newborns for head circumference, drug exposure, and other variables. Results showed that 11.5 percent of the patients had metabolites of cocaine in their urine, while much smaller proportions (no more than 1.2 percent) had metabolites of marijuana, methadone, or other drugs. Seventy-three percent of the cocaine users smoked cigarettes, compared with 14.3 percent of the nonusers. While the ages of cocaine users and nonusers did not differ, their ethnicity did: 66 percent of the users were American-born blacks and 14 percent were from the Caribbean. Blacks made up 28 percent of the nonuser group. Cocaine users had higher parity (more children delivered), poorer prenatal care, and more low-birth-weight infants (weighing less than 2,500 grams) than nonusers (slightly more than 40 percent, compared with 12 percent among nonusers). Users' infants were of shorter gestational ages when delivered and had smaller head circumferences and lengths. Low Apgar scores (a measure of physical function of the newborn) were more frequent among users than nonusers (12.5 percent versus 3.2 percent); infants of cocaine users had a 2.7 times greater chance of receiving a low score. Except for bleeding at the time of admission, which was more frequent among users, the rate of complications of delivery did not differ between the groups. A discussion is presented of the harmful effects of cocaine. Use of this drug among pregnant inner-city women has reached epidemic proportions. Programs to treat the epidemic will need to find innovative ways to reach the patient groups most in need of help. (Consumer Summary produced by Reliance Medical Information, Inc.)

Evaluation, Abnormalities, Fetus, New York, New York, New York

---

The relationship of cocaine use to syphilis and human immunodeficiency virus infections among inner city parturient women

Article Abstract:

The relationship of cocaine use to infection with syphilis and with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) was assessed among 1,206 women giving birth at an inner city hospital. Syphilis is a sexually transmitted disease caused by infection with the spirochete Treponema pallidum. These women were tested for cocaine use by analyzing their urine samples. Their use of prenatal care services was also evaluated, as were the results of blood tests for syphilis. Blood tests for antibodies to HIV were performed in 480 cases. Of the urine samples, almost 13 percent contained cocaine derivatives; 1.4 percent had opiates; 1.5 percent had marijuana; and 0.3 percent had methadone. Antibodies to HIV were detected in four of 53 patients (8 percent) with positive cocaine tests and six of 427 patients (1.4 percent) with negative urine cocaine tests. Among patients with positive cocaine tests, six of 21 patients with syphilis and none of four HIV-infected patients received prenatal care. Among patients with negative urine cocaine tests, 13 of 18 patients with syphilis and five of six HIV-infected patients received prenatal care. The use of cocaine was associated with an increased incidence of syphilis and HIV infections as well as the failure of infected women to obtain prenatal care services. (Consumer Summary produced by Reliance Medical Information, Inc.)

Usage, HIV infection, HIV infections, Syphilis, Prenatal care

---

The effect of recent cocaine use on the progress of labor

Article Abstract:

Recent use of cocaine does not appear to speed up labor. Among a group of 1220 women admitted to King's County Hospital, Brooklyn, New York, in labor, 73 had a positive urine test for cocaine. After adjusting for vaginal versus cesarean delivery, prior number of pregnancies, birth weight, and whether the mother had prenatal care, no differences were found in duration of any stage of labor. The impression that labor is shorter after cocaine use may come from cocaine users being more likely to have had prior births, that cocaine users were admitted in labor at greater cervical dilation, and that babies of cocaine users were smaller.

Labor (Obstetrics)

Similar abstracts:

• Abstracts: Prevalence of Alzheimer's disease in a community population of older persons: higher than previously reported
• Abstracts: Risk for colorectal adenocarcinoma in pernicious anemia: a population-based cohort study. A questionnaire for functional bowel disorders
• Abstracts: Epidemiologic characteristics of two different populations of women with Chlamydia trachomatis infection and their male partners
• Abstracts: Maternal serum alpha-fetoprotein screening for fetal Down syndrome in the United States: results of a survey. Lack of an association between late fetal death and antiphospholipid antibody measurements in the second trimester
• Abstracts: Efficacy and safety of nafarelin in the treatment of endometriosis. Nafarelin in the treatment of pelvic pain caused by endometriosis

This website is not affiliated with document authors or copyright owners. This page is provided for informational purposes only. Unintentional errors are possible.