SynthesisBMC pregnancy and childbirth2023
Effectiveness of brief alcohol interventions for pregnant women: a systematic literature review and meta-analysis.
Synthesis in BMC pregnancy and childbirth, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 23 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
23 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 29 citations in OpenAlex.
- Psychosocial and medication interventions to stop or reduce alcohol consumption during pregnancy.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2024Pooled it
- The Elephant in the Room: A Systematic Review of the Application and Effects of Psychological Treatments for Pregnant Women with Dual Pathology (Mental Health and Substance-Related Disorders).International journal of environmental research and public health · 2024Pooled it
- Evaluation of an e-health integrated intervention for pregnant women with co-occurring mental health and substance use symptoms: an exploratory randomized clinical trial.BMC pregnancy and childbirth · 2026Trial
- An economic analysis of Native CHOICES.Journal of substance use and addiction treatment · 2026Trial
- Participant experiences with a text message and contingency management intervention for alcohol use during pregnancy and lactation in Cape Town, South Africa.Addiction science & clinical practice · 2025Trial
- Maternal depression, alcohol use, and transient effects of perinatal paraprofessional home visiting in South Africa: Eight-year follow-up of a cluster randomized controlled trial.Social science & medicine (1982) · 2023Trial
- Features of smoking cessation, alcohol reduction, and diet and physical activity interventions associated with changing behaviours during pregnancy: a systematic review of reviews.Journal of behavioral medicine · 2026Review
- Outcomes in offspring of interventions to treat substance use in pregnancy: protocol for an umbrella review.Systematic reviews · 2026Article
- "Actionable" risk for preterm birth: patterns and prediction in California singleton births 2016-2020.BMC pregnancy and childbirth · 2026Article
- Safe start, a hybrid intervention to reduce alcohol exposed pregnancies: protocol for a randomized controlled trial.BMC public health · 2026Article
- Prenatal alcohol exposure induces anxiety and depressive-like behaviors with deficits in growth and food intake in mice.Frontiers in cell and developmental biology · 2026Article
- Maternal Folic Acid Supplementation and Neural Tube Defects in Northeast Iran: Insights for Developing Countries.Pediatric health, medicine and therapeutics · 2026Article
- A prospective cohort study to assess if alcohol intake measured by routine pregnancy self-report predicts developmental concerns uncovered by routine health visitor screening of children at 30 months of age.Archives of public health = Archives belges de sante publique · 2025Article
- Prevalence of prenatal alcohol use among Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal women in the Northern Territory, Australia: estimate from perinatal, emergency, and admission datasets.BMC pregnancy and childbirth · 2025Article
- Knowledge as prevention: A cost-effective intervention to reduce prenatal alcohol exposure.Alcohol, clinical & experimental research · 2025Article
- Alcohol consumption and associated factors among pregnant women at public health centers in Asella town, southeastern Ethiopia: a multicenter mixed-method cross-sectional study.BMC pregnancy and childbirth · 2025Article
- Socioeconomic determinants of low birth weight and its association with peripubertal obesity in Brazil.Frontiers in public health · 2025Article
- Relationships Between Alcohol Policies and Infant Morbidities and Injuries.American journal of preventive medicine · 2024Article
- Improving the quality of antenatal screening and early intervention for alcohol and other drug use: protocol for a multi-stage approach to systems reform.Addiction science & clinical practice · 2024Article
- The role of general practitioners in Reunion in detecting alcohol use in pregnant women and identifying fetal alcohol spectrum disorder: a qualitative study.Archives of public health = Archives belges de sante publique · 2023Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
7 authors at 4 institutions in 4 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundPrenatal alcohol exposure (PAE) can result in a range of adverse neonatal outcomes, including Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD). This systematic review and meta-analysis sought to investigate the effectiveness of brief interventions (BIs) in eliminating or reducing 1) alcohol consumption during pregnancy; and 2) PAE-related adverse neonatal outcomes; and 3) cost-effectiveness of BIs.
methodWe conducted a systematic literature search for original controlled studies (randomized control trials (RCTs); quasi-experimental) in any setting, published from 1987 to 2021. The comparison group was no/minimal intervention, where a measure of alcohol consumption was reported. Studies were critically appraised using the Centre for Evidence-based Medicine Oxford critical appraisal tool for RCTs (1). The certainty in the evidence for each outcome was assessed using the GRADE (Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development and Evaluation) (2). Meta-analysis of continuous and binary estimates of effect-size for similar outcome measures for BIs versus control groups were pooled and reported as mean difference (MD) Hedges' g and odds ratios (ORs), respectively.
resultsIn total, 26 studies, all from high income countries, met inclusion criteria. Alcohol abstinence outcome available in 12 studies (n = 2620) found modest effects in favor of BIs conditions by increasing the odds of abstinence by 56% (OR = 1.56, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 1.15-2.13, I
conclusionBIs are moderately effective in increasing abstinence during pregnancy and preventing preterm birth. More studies on the effectiveness of BIs are needed from low- and middle-income countries, as well as with younger mothers and with a broader range of ethnic groups.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What Socratic holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.