Prevalence of Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders (FASD) among Children Adopted from Eastern European Countries: Russia and Ukraine

Joan Colom, Lidia Segura-García, Adriana Bastons-Compta, Marta Astals, Vicente Andreu-Fernandez, Natalia Barcons, Raquel Vidal, Ana I. Ibar, Vicky Fumadó, Nuria Gómez, Agnés Russiñol and Oscar Garcia-Algar
Additional contact information
Joan Colom: Program on Substance Abuse, Public Health Agency of Catalonia, Department of Health, Generalitat de Catalunya, 08005 Barcelona, Spain
Lidia Segura-García: Program on Substance Abuse, Public Health Agency of Catalonia, Department of Health, Generalitat de Catalunya, 08005 Barcelona, Spain
Adriana Bastons-Compta: Maternal and Child Health and Development Network (Red SAMID), Instituto de Salud Carlos III (ISCIII), 28029 Madrid, Spain
Marta Astals: Maternal and Child Health and Development Network (Red SAMID), Instituto de Salud Carlos III (ISCIII), 28029 Madrid, Spain
Vicente Andreu-Fernandez: Maternal and Child Health and Development Network (Red SAMID), Instituto de Salud Carlos III (ISCIII), 28029 Madrid, Spain
Natalia Barcons: Pediatrics Service, Hospital Sant Joan de Déu, 08950 Barcelona, Spain
Raquel Vidal: Psychiatry Service, Hospital Universitari Vall d’Hebron, Group of Psychiatry, Mental Health and Addiction, Vall d’Hebron Research Institute (VHIR), 08035 Barcelona, Spain
Ana I. Ibar: Program on Substance Abuse, Public Health Agency of Catalonia, Department of Health, Generalitat de Catalunya, 08005 Barcelona, Spain
Vicky Fumadó: Pediatrics Service, Hospital Sant Joan de Déu, 08950 Barcelona, Spain
Nuria Gómez: Psychiatry Service, Hospital Universitari Vall d’Hebron, Group of Psychiatry, Mental Health and Addiction, Vall d’Hebron Research Institute (VHIR), 08035 Barcelona, Spain
Agnés Russiñol: Department of Labour, Social Affairs and Families, Catalan Institute for Fostering and Adoption, 08001 Barcelona, Spain
Oscar Garcia-Algar: Maternal and Child Health and Development Network (Red SAMID), Instituto de Salud Carlos III (ISCIII), 28029 Madrid, Spain

IJERPH, 2021, vol. 18, issue 4, 1-12

Abstract: Fetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD) is a leading cause of neurodevelopmental disorders. Children adopted internationally from countries where alcohol consumption during pregnancy is very high are at greater risk for FASD. Lack of expertise in diagnosing FASD and mixed neurodevelopmental and behavioral signs due to abandonment complicate a timely diagnosis. The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of FASD in adopted children. Children between the ages of 8 and 24 adopted from Russia and Ukraine were evaluated for clinical and historical features of FASD. Of the 162 children evaluated, 81 (50%) met FASD diagnostic criteria. Thirty-three (20.4%) children had fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS), 28 (17.2%) had partial FAS, 2 (1.2%) had alcohol-related birth defects (ARBD) and 18 (11.1%) had alcohol-related neurodevelopmental disorder (ARND). Of the 81 children in which fetal alcohol exposure could not be confirmed, many had manifestations that would have established a diagnosis of FASD if a history of maternal alcohol consumption was confirmed. In a population of children with a high risk of prenatal alcohol exposure (adoptees from Eastern European countries), at least 50% showed manifestations associated with FASD. The reported prevalence in this study is in line with the results obtained in a previous study as well as in orphanages of origin.

Keywords: fetal alcohol spectrum disorders (FASD); adopted children; cognitive disorder; neurodevelopment impairment; prenatal exposure to alcohol (PEA); alcohol-exposed pregnancies; alcohol (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/18/4/1388/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/18/4/1388/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:18:y:2021:i:4:p:1388-:d:492258

Access Statistics for this article

IJERPH is currently edited by Ms. Jenna Liu

More articles in IJERPH from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().