Association between the use of free base cocaine (basuco) by pregnant women and intrauterine growth retardation of newborns in Bogota, D.C., Colombia

Abstract

A retrospective cohort study of 1.878 puerperai women was carried out to assess a possible relationship between the use of free base cocaine or ""basuco"" by pregnant women and the the risk of intrauterine growth retardation (IUGR) of their live newborns in two hospitals in Bogotá. Colombia. We investigated, among other variables, use of illegal drugs using a standardized questionnaire and anthropometric measurements of both the mothers and their newborns. The prevalence of low birthweight (LBW), preterrn birth (PT), and IUGR was cornpared to the history of illegal drug consumption during pregnancy, using lineal and logistic multiple regression models in order to adjust for the effect of potential confounders such as maternal age, parity, nutritional status, maternal pathologies, prenatal care, socioeconomic status, educational level, tobacco use, and alcohol consurnption. One out of every 189 pregnant women used illegal drugs during their pregnancy, most frequently Cannabis sativa or free-base cocaine. The users of these products were more likely less educated, poorer, did not have prenatal care, and they were tobacco smokers and alcohol drinkers. The study found an adjusted prevalence odds ratio (OR) of 5.24 (IC95%: 1.3-21.0) for the use of any illegal drug and IUGR, and a deficit of 0.7 standard deviations of weight for their gestational age (p=0.03) arnong newborns of these drug users. We found an even higher prevalence of IUGR for those newborns of mothers who exclusively srnoked free base cocaine (0R=7.78, IC95%: 1.0-62). Although it is likely that our method underestimated the true prevalence of drug use, and in spite of its limited statistical power, this study was able to identify an important effect of the use of free base cocaine and the risk of IUGR. These findings bear public health relevance given the fact that the use of this form of cocaine has epidemic proportions in the Americas.