Measurement of direct ethanol metabolites suggests higher rate of alcohol use among pregnant women than found with the AUDIT - a pilot study in a population-based sample of Swedish women

OBJECTIVES: The objective of the study was to investigate whether biomarkers of alcohol consumption would provide additional information to the use of a validated alcohol questionnaire in pregnant women. STUDY DESIGN: One hundred three pregnant women were included in the study. The women completed the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT) questionnaire, and a urine and hair sample was collected. The urine samples were used for determination of ethyl glucuronide (EtG) and ethyl sulfate and the hair samples for EtG and fatty acid ethyl esters (FAEE). RESULTS: Twenty-six women (25.2%) were identified as possible alcohol consumers by the combined use of AUDIT and direct ethanol metabolites. Seven subjects had EtG or FAEE levels in hair highly suspicious of heavy drinking, but only 1 of these were positive according to the AUDIT questionnaire CONCLUSION: The combined use of the AUDIT questionnaire and direct ethanol metabolites appear to identify more potential alcohol consumers among pregnant women than does the sole use of the AUDIT questionnaire.