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Do women give the same information on binge drinking during pregnancy when asked repeatedly?

European Journal of Clinical Nutrition volume 60, pages 1294–1298 (2006)Cite this article

Abstract

Objective:

To study if pregnant women give the same answers to questions on frequency and timing of binge drinking when asked more than once during and after pregnancy.

Design:

Cohort study.

Setting:

The Danish National Birth Cohort.

Subjects:

The study is based on 76 307 pregnant women with repeated information on binge drinking during the early part of pregnancy and 8933 pregnant women with information on binge drinking during pregnancy weeks 30–36, obtained while pregnant and 6 months after delivery.

Results:

More women reported binge drinking, if the interview took place close to the period in question. As the report of binge drinking was highest in the first of two interviews referring to the same period, as well as women who participated in the first interview in pregnancy week 12 or earlier reported more binge drinking compared to women who participated in the interview later in pregnancy.

Conclusions:

Self-reported information on binge drinking is more frequently under-reported when the recall period is long. To improve the validity of data on binge drinking, future birth cohorts should obtain information several times during pregnancy.

Sponsorship:

The Danish National Board of Health and the Health Insurance Foundation.

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Acknowledgements

This particular study is funded by grants from the Danish National Board of Health and the Health Insurance Foundation. The Danish National Research Foundation has established the Danish Epidemiology Science Centre that initiated and created the Danish National Birth Cohort. The cohort is furthermore a result of a major grant from this foundation. Additional support for the Danish National Birth Cohort is obtained from the Pharmacy Foundation, the Egmont Foundation, the March of Dimes Birth Defects Foundation and the Augustinus Foundation.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. National Institute of Public Health, Copenhagen, Denmark

    K Strandberg-Larsen, A-MN Andersen, N R Nielsen & M Grønbæk

  2. Department of Epidemiology, UCLA School of Public Health, Los Angeles, CA, USA

    J Olsen & N R Nielsen

Authors
  1. K Strandberg-Larsen
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  2. A-MN Andersen
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  3. J Olsen
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  4. N R Nielsen
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  5. M Grønbæk
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to K Strandberg-Larsen.

Additional information

Guarantor: K Strandberg-Larsen.

Contributors: KS-L contributed to the conception and design of the study, analysis and interpretation of data, and drafting the paper. A-MNA, JO, NRN, and MG contributed to the conception and design of the study and to critically revising the manuscript. A-MNA and JO contributed to the design of the Danish National Birth Cohort and acquisition of data. A-MNA, JO and MG have designed the questions on number and timing of binge drinking used in the present study. All contributors have approved the final version of the manuscript.

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Strandberg-Larsen, K., Andersen, AM., Olsen, J. et al. Do women give the same information on binge drinking during pregnancy when asked repeatedly?. Eur J Clin Nutr 60, 1294–1298 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.ejcn.1602451

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