Environmental risk factors and children's motor performance

Abstract

diagnosed FASDs. It further reinforces the understanding that harm can occur at any level and timing of alcohol exposure even if that harm cannot be codified with an FASD diagnosis.As with any behavioral research, there are limitations that must be addressed in future replications and extensions. Most notable is the use of a retrospective assessment of alcohol use during pregnancy after a long lag time (7-9y), which could introduce recall bias. Knowing more about the functional status of the children with deficits would have been useful. Finally, the authors may be overreaching to promote the QNST-2 as a diagnostic tool for FASDs at this time (as it describes functional rather than diagnostic issues), but its potential for early identification and referral are clear. Based on findings from this study, poor performance on the QNST-2 should certainly trigger consideration of possible in utero exposure to alcohol. Future prospective studies are strongly encouraged to address this point. Finally, findings from this study (and the Lililwan Project as a whole) underscore and reinforce current recommendations that females who may be pregnant abstain from alcohol to prevent an alcohol-exposed pregnancy, which can lead to lifelong neurological, neurodevelopmental, and functional harm.