Describing the experience of Indigenous peoples with prenatal alcohol exposure and FASD: a global review of the literature to inform a Kaupapa Māori study into the experiences of Māori with FASD.

AIM

This paper reports the findings of a literature review in answer to the research question: "What are the strengths and weaknesses of the existing research into the experience of prenatal alcohol exposure and Foetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder in Indigenous communities?"

METHOD

MEDLINE (Ovid), psychINFO, CINAHL Plus and Web of Science, EMBASE, Informit databases were searched using key words to identify relevant literature. Given the anticipated scarcity of research relevant to our study, no geographic or chronologic limitations were placed on the searches. Studies which were solely descriptive were excluded, but reviews were included. The data analysis was informed by a Kaupapa Māori positioning and the 'CONSIDER' statement on reporting of health research involving Indigenous people.

RESULTS

Thirty-four papers met the inclusion criteria. Four main categories of papers were found: protocols/methods development, evaluation of interventions to reduce alcohol-exposed pregnancy, research seeking to understand alcohol use in pregnancy and interventions to improve the experience of people with FASD and their families. Indigenous peoples of Australia, Canada and North America were the participants of the papers found in this review, with only one research study found from Aotearoa New Zealand.

CONCLUSION

The existing literature on FASD in Indigenous communities internationally is heavily skewed towards the development and evaluation of interventions to reduce alcohol-exposed pregnancies. There is also a focus on studies which aim to understand and describe the variables which lead to alcohol use among Indigenous communities, and the relationship with alcohol use in the perinatal period. In the last ten years, a number of protocols/methods development for FASD-related interventions in Indigenous communities have been published. There is one published study from Aotearoa in the scientific literature into the experience of Māori with FASD.