Association of low birth weight with alcohol, illicit drug and smoking use

Authors

  • Carlos Valverde González
  • Nancy Urbina Romo
  • Kenia Peñafiel Jaramillo

Keywords:

low birth weight, alcohol consumption, illicit drugs, smoking, Chi-square of independence

Abstract

Introduction: Previous research has linked the consumption of alcohol, illicit drugs and smoking during pregnancy with possible neurodevelopmental complications and low birth weight babies.

Objective: The objective of the study was to associate low birth weight with the consumption of alcohol, illicit drugs and smoking in patients Ecuador.

Methods: The study corresponded to the relational level and was retrospective, observational, cross-sectional and analytical. We studied 156 pregnant patients attended in a hospital in the city of Babahoyo, Ecuador. The Chi-square test of independence was applied using IBM SPSS Statistics software (v. 25.0).

Results: A significant association was found between maternal alcohol consumption during gestation and low birth weight (X2=17.162; p<0.001). No significant associations were evidenced between maternal illicit drug use (p=0.095) or smoking (p=0.129) and low birth weight (p>0.05).

Conclusions: According to the chi-square tests applied, only a statistically significant association was found between alcohol consumption during pregnancy and a higher incidence of low birth weight (p<0.001), rejecting in this case the null hypothesis (H0). As for the consumption of illicit drugs and maternal smoking, the p values were greater than 0.05, so that no significant association of these variables with low birth weight could be demonstrated in the sample studied.

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Published

2024-04-02

How to Cite

1.
Valverde González C, Urbina Romo N, Peñafiel Jaramillo K. Association of low birth weight with alcohol, illicit drug and smoking use. Rev Cubana Inv Bioméd [Internet]. 2024 Apr. 2 [cited 2026 Feb. 7];43. Available from: https://revibiomedica.sld.cu/index.php/ibi/article/view/3263