FASD Center for Excellence

Russia

The rate of full FAS in Russian institutions is 53-145 per 1,000. Studies of FASD prevalence in children adopted from Russia by U.S. families have been conducted in order to identify those children who would benefit from early interventions.
A collaborative project between the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center and St. Petersburg State University is entering Phase III, a randomized controlled trial to test brief intervention by ob/gyn physicians at women’s clinics. Phase I, funded as Phase III is by the National Institutes of Health (NIH), included focus groups with non-pregnant women of childbearing age, pregnant women, and women with alcohol dependency, as well as pediatricians, OB/GYN, and substance abuse treatment professionals to determine knowledge, attitude, and behaviors related to drinking during pregnancy. Phase II, funded by the CDC, focused on the development of educational materials for the prevention of FASD in Russia.
A Russian research project funded through the Collaborative Initiative on Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders is in progress to identify the full range of expression of FASD, assess the contribution of maternal nutritional status, provide a sample for testing alternative and earlier methods for identifying affected children, and test prenatal interventions.