Southern Arizona Online, a publication of the Tucson Citizen

Study aims to pinpoint rate of FAS disability

In the most comprehensive study of its kind in Arizona, researchers are working to determine the rate of fetal alcohol syndrome, and how to prevent it.
The five-year project, funded by the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, will study Arizona, Wisconsin, western New York, Colorado and Texas.
Doctors and researchers at the University of Arizona College of Medicine began work this fall, gathering documented cases of FAS throughout the state.
A team of researchers will use databases from the Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System and the Arizona Birth Defects Monitoring Program, as well as information from schools, programs for at-risk children, Indian Health Services clinics and other special clinics where people with FAS might be evaluated.
"We'll also be targeting physicians and health care professionals to really raise awareness of FAS for diagnostic purposes," said Dr. Christopher Cunniff, a geneticist and pediatrician at University Medical Center.
"We want to give them the tools to diagnose. And we're trying to train physicians throughout the state to be regional diagnosticians in questionable cases."
Another goal is to create a uniform case definition, so doctors across the state will use the same guidelines when evaluating patients.
For a diagnosis of FAS, health care professionals must find evidence of growth deficiency, central nervous system abnormalities, specific facial features and a history of maternal drinking. The maternal history isn't always easy to get.
Through the grant, Cunniff hopes to train doctors statewide to properly diagnose FAS.
Cunniff believes about 1 in a thousand babies in Arizona is born with FAS.
And he believes some people may be overdiagnosed, and may not actually have FAS.
"I'm confident FAS is not underdiagnosed among Native American children," Cunniff said. He fears physicians may be quick to attach an FAS label to Native American children who are developmentally delayed.
"But in other groups I think it might be underdiagnosed for a number of reasons. I think part of it is that doctors don't want to put that label on a child."
While facial features associated with FAS are specific, other requirements, such as growth retardation, are vague, he said.
Once the study determines the prevalence of FAS, Cunniff and others will work to get children hooked up with services, he said.
"We want to apply interventions and measure successes in target areas where drinking during pregnancy is high," he said. "We want to get kids into systems of care they may not be in."

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