CLARION CO., Pa. (EYT) — According to a new research brief published on Wednesday by the Pennsylvania Health Care Cost Containment Council, Northwestern Pennsylvania has some of the highest rates of neonatal abstinence syndrome in the state.
The U.S. National Library of Medicine defines neonatal abstinence syndrome (NAS) as fetal and neonatal addiction and withdrawal as a result of the mother’s dependence on drugs during pregnancy. Infants born with NAS are more likely to suffer complications such as low birth weight, prematurity, difficulty feeding, and respiratory distress. They are also more likely to be admitted to a hospital’s neonatal intensive care unit and have longer hospital stays.
Although some of the highest rates of infants born with NAS are found in Northwestern Pennsylvania, Clarion County has one of the lowest rates in the region, with just 12.1 admissions per 1,000 newborn stays in the 2016-17 fiscal year, which is well below the state average of 15.0 per 1,000 newborn stays.
exploreClarion.com spoke to Corrin Reffner, a Case Manager with the Armstrong-Indiana-Clarion Drug and Alcohol Commission, about local services available to aid in the prevention of NAS in the area.
“AIC has a Prevention Department, for education in the community, as well as Case Manager Services and Certified Recovery Specialists,” Reffner said.
“Pregnant women are priority cases; we get them an appointment within 24 hours. If they want to do treatment, we conduct a level of care assessment where we sit down and go over information about their prenatal care and substance use. We look for patterns, both short and long-term, discuss their housing situation, family support, and any other children in the home, to determine what services and treatment they need. Clarion outpatient services are provided by CenClear. Inpatient rehab, since we don’t have anything local in Clarion, we refer to neighboring counties. Pregnant women are referred to McGee Hospital Women’s Recovery.”
Although Clarion’s rates fall below the state average, many of the surrounding counties have far higher rates. Here are the 2016-17 fiscal year rates per 1,000 newborn stays for counties in northwestern Pennsylvania:
Butler: 19.3
Clarion: 12.1
Crawford: 31.8
Elk: 45.1
Erie: 15.1
Forest: not reported due to low volume
Jefferson: 12.5
Lawrence: 26.8
McKean: 24.4
Mercer: 36.1
Venango County: 41.1
Warren: 13.8
Elk County and Venango County had, respectively, the third and fourth highest rates in the state of Pennsylvania.
Clinton and Tioga Counties have the lowest current rate in Pennsylvania, at just 3.2 per 1,000 newborn stays, while Greene County has the highest rate, with 76.0 per 1,000 newborn stays.
Statewide, the overall rate of neonatal abstinence syndrome in newborns has increased 1096% between the fiscal year 2000-01 and fiscal year 2016-17, from 1.2 to 15.0 per 1,000 newborn stays. There were nearly 2,000 NAS-related newborn stays in Pennsylvania in the 2017 fiscal year.
