Are Rural and Urban Ontario Health Care Professionals Aware of Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder? A Secondary Data Analysis of the Fetal Alcohol Syndrome Survey for Health Professionals

Health care professionals play a critical role in the prevention of FASD, particularly through providing counselling around alcohol use and alcohol consumption during pregnancy, yet researchers have demonstrated that many professionals remain under-educated concerning FASD. In addition, awareness of FASD held by Ontario health care professionals remains unexplored. A secondary data analysis was conducted using data obtained from the 2001-2002 Fetal Alcohol Syndrome (FAS) Survey for Health Professionals. Ontario-specific data (N = 834) were used to examine the awareness of FASD held by various health care professionals in both rural and urban settings. Nearly all (99.5%) of the surveyed health care professionals had previously heard of FASD; however, only 73.2% reported discussing the risks of alcohol during pregnancy, 62.4% agreed with the practice of telling patients to drink in moderation, and only 87.9% recommended that pregnant women completely abstain from alcohol for the duration of their pregnancy. Using Chi-squared comparisons, results also showed that rural providers were more likely than urban providers to ask pregnant women if they are currently drinking alcohol (p = .007) and felt more prepared to care for biological mothers in the area of alcohol use or dependency (p = .011). Health care professionals’ counselling and recommendations for pregnant women about alcohol use, as well as FASD prevention, are discussed.