Association between Tobacco and Alcohol Consumption during Pregnancy and Child Development

Background and Aims: Exposure of the fetus to the toxic components of tobacco and alcohol during pregnancy can lead to disturbances in child development. Studies have had controversial results because of different methods and samples. We studied the association between smoking and/or alcohol use during pregnancy and the development of children between 13 and 30 months of age.

Method: Prenatal convenience cohort study (2010), evaluated at birth and between 13 and 30 months (2011/2013) in Ribeirão Preto, SP, Brazil. The association of the mean scores of the Bayley Scales of Infant and Toddler Development Third Edition Screening Test® with tobacco and/or alcohol consumption during gestation (no consumption, isolated consumption of tobacco or alcohol and concomitant use of both) was evaluated by means of crude and adjusted linear regression.

Results: Of the 998 pregnant women evaluated, 12.1% smoked and 24.6% consumed alcoholic beverages; alcohol consumption was 18.6% and tobacco alone was 6.1%. Combined consumption of the substances was 6.0%. There was no difference in the means of the cognitive score according to the consumption of the substances. Concomitant consumption was associated with a smaller difference in the mean of the communication subscale scores (1.12 points for receptive communication, 95%CI0.45-1.79, 1.19 points for expressive communication, 95%CI0.31-2,07) and motor (1.20 points for fine motor, IC95%0.55-1.85, 0.70 points for gross motor, IC95%0.13-1.28), compared to no consumption.

Conclusion: Concomitant consumption of tobacco and alcohol had a significant but small effect on communication and motor scores, but not on the cognitive subscale.