Flynn Heather A, Cain Sarah A, O'Mahen Heather A, Davis Matthew M
Department of Psychiatry, University of Michigan Medical School, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48105, USA.
Alcohol Clin Exp Res. 2006 Jul;30(7):1160-4. doi: 10.1111/j.1530-0277.2006.00132.x.
Maternal alcohol use problems may impact the health and well-being of children, but often remain unrecognized. Mothers of young children seldom seek outpatient care for themselves; thus, pediatric settings may present an opportunity for the detection of maternal alcohol use problems. This study examines the feasibility of screening for and prevalence of alcohol use problems in mothers of young children in the context of seeking pediatric emergency care. We also examined the relationship of maternal alcohol use problems with use of pediatric emergency care.
A total of 361 English-speaking mothers of children aged 7 and younger completed screening measures during their child's emergency care visit. TWEAK was used to screen for alcohol use problems. The screening survey also included information on children's health status and health care use, demographics, and the Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale.
Of the women approached, 90% agreed to complete the screening measure. On the basis of cutoff score of 2 or more, 7% of women had elevated TWEAK scores. Those women with a TWEAK score > 2 reported greater use of the pediatric emergency department (PED) than women scoring below the cutoff. On the basis of multivariate analyses, significant predictors of recent PED use included the presence of child chronic illness, younger maternal age, and TWEAK score.
Screening for alcohol use problems among mothers of young children using the TWEAK appears to be feasible in a busy PED setting. The PED setting is promising for identifying risk drinking among women who may be less likely to be otherwise detected and for whom alcohol use may be impacting child outcomes.
母亲的酒精使用问题可能会影响儿童的健康和幸福，但往往未被识别。幼儿母亲很少为自己寻求门诊护理；因此，儿科环境可能为发现母亲的酒精使用问题提供机会。本研究探讨了在寻求儿科急诊护理的背景下，对幼儿母亲进行酒精使用问题筛查的可行性及患病率。我们还研究了母亲酒精使用问题与儿科急诊护理使用之间的关系。
共有361名7岁及以下儿童的英语母语母亲在其孩子急诊就诊期间完成了筛查措施。使用TWEAK量表筛查酒精使用问题。筛查调查还包括有关儿童健康状况和医疗保健使用情况、人口统计学以及流行病学研究中心抑郁量表的信息。
在被邀请的女性中，90%同意完成筛查措施。根据截断分数为2分及以上，7%的女性TWEAK得分升高。TWEAK得分>2的女性比得分低于截断分数的女性报告更多地使用儿科急诊科（PED）。根据多变量分析，近期使用PED的显著预测因素包括儿童慢性病的存在、母亲年龄较小以及TWEAK得分。
在繁忙的儿科急诊科环境中，使用TWEAK量表对幼儿母亲进行酒精使用问题筛查似乎是可行的。儿科急诊科环境有望识别那些可能难以被其他方式检测到且酒精使用可能影响儿童结局的女性中的危险饮酒情况。
