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Nationwide Practices for Screening and Reporting Prenatal Cocaine Abuse: A Survey of Teaching Programs

NCJ Number
140049
Journal
Child Abuse and Neglect Volume: 16 Issue: 5 Dated: (September-October 1992) Pages: 763-770
Author(s)
T L Pelham; A R DeJong
Date Published
1992
Length
8 pages
Annotation
Respondents from 81 pediatric and 81 obstetric medical training programs nationwide answered questionnaires regarding policies and opinions on prenatal cocaine abuse and screening.
Abstract
While 81 percent of the respondents favored routine patient screening through maternal history and 36 percent favored using urine toxicology, only 64 percent and 8 percent, respectively, reported these measures as established policies in their programs. Doctors in regions exhibiting higher rates of prenatal cocaine abuse were more likely to favor universal perinatal screening, but established policies showed no difference based on region. Over half the respondents had no familiarity with their State's drug abuse reporting requirements. Nearly two-thirds of the physicians favored voluntary drug treatment and family support services; some favored more intrusive interventions including foster care placement for the infants (28 percent), involuntary drug rehabilitation (31 percent), and criminal prosecution for the mother (3 percent). The authors stress that a multidisciplinary approach, combining medicine, social work, and law, is needed to develop effective policies for managing prenatal cocaine abuse. 4 tables and 26 references

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