§ Lord Reaasked Her Majesty's Government:
What has been the incidence of foetal alcohol syndrome in the United Kingdom in recent years; and what comparative statistics are available from other countries. [HL2321]
§ The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department of Health (Lord Warner)Foetal alcohol syndrome (FAS) can often be difficult to diagnose, both at birth and later on in life, as it can be difficult to isolate the effects of the syndrome from other factors, particularly those relating to general maternal health during pregnancy and other inequalities that the mother and child may have experienced in the years following the birth.
The following table provides details of all diagnoses of FAS in England drawn from hospital episode statistics (HES). Varying levels of awareness of FAS or 31WA other external factors may play a substantial part in year on year variations in the figures, including the increase in 2002–03.
The World Health Organisation estimate that incidence of FAS of between 0.33 and 9.7 per 1,000 live births in a range of countries. Differing levels of alcohol consumption will contribute to the differing incidence, but it is possible that difficulties in diagnosis and recording may also contribute to the difference.
All Diagnoses (ICD-10 Q86.0) Foetal Alcohol Syndrome Count of Finished Consultant Episodes (FCEs) NHS Hospitals, England 2000–01 to 2002–03 Year FCEs 2000–01 95 2001–02 90 2002–03 128 Finished Consultant Episode (FCE)
An FCE is defined as a period of admitted patient care under one consultant within one healthcare provider. Please note that the figures do not represent the number of patients, as a person may have more than one episode of care within the year.
Grossing
Figures are grossed for both coverage and missing/ invalid clinical data, except for 2001–02 and 2002–03, which are not yet adjusted for shortfalls.
All Diagnoses count of Episodes
These figures represent a count of all FCE's where the diagnosis was mentioned in any of the 14 (7 prior to 2002–03) diagnoses fields in a HES record. A record is only included once in each count, even if a diagnoses is mentioned in more than one diagnosis field of the record.
SourceHospital Episode Statistics (HES), Department of Health.