A comparison of the prevalence of prenatal alcohol exposure obtained via maternal self-reports versus meconium testing: a systematic literature review and meta-analysis

BACKGROUND Maternal self-reports, used for the detection of prenatal alcohol exposure (PAE), may lack validity, necessitating the use of an objective biomarker. The detection of fatty acid ethyl esters (products of non-oxidative ethanol metabolism) in meconium has been established as a novel biomarker of PAE. The purpose of the current study was to compare the prevalence of PAE as reported via maternal self-reports with the results of meconium testing, and to quantify the disparity between these two methods. METHODS A systematic literature search for studies reporting on the prevalence of PAE, using maternal self-reports in combination with meconium testing, was conducted using multiple electronic bibliographic databases. Pooled prevalence estimates and 95% confidence intervals (CI) were calculated based on eight studies, using the Mantel-Haenszel method, assuming a random effects model. A random effects meta-regression was performed to test for a difference. RESULTS The pooled prevalence of PAE as measured by meconium testing was 4.26 (95% CI: 1.34-13.57) times the pooled prevalence of PAE as measured by maternal self-reports. Large variations across the studies in regard to the difference between estimates obtained from maternal self-reports and those obtained from meconium testing were observed. CONCLUSIONS If maternal self-reports are the sole information source upon which health care professionals rely, a number of infants who were prenatally exposed to alcohol are not being recognized as such. However, further research is needed in order to validate existing biomarkers, as well as discover new biomarkers, for the detection of PAE.