The PROMOTE Prenatal Screener

Screening for psychosocial vulnerabilities and substance use in prenatal care is not well integrated and adopted in clinical practice.

The PROMOTE* screener was designed for systematic, comprehensive, and easy assessment to improve care and perinatal outcomes.
*Profile for Maternal & Obstetric Treatment Effectiveness

WHY

• Psychosocial vulnerabilities and substance use elevate risk for adverse perinatal outcomes
• Patient, clinician, and organizational barriers can impede systematic assessment of these risks

WHAT

• The PROMOTE was developed from evidence-based, clinically meaningful knowledge
• Brief yet comprehensive self-report psychosocial history and substance use screening tool
• Additional in-depth assessment of substance use history for opioid users

HOW

• Systematically collects patient information in a direct but non-judgmental way
• 27 single items, including an expanded version of the NIDA Quick Screen¹
• Completed prior to first prenatal visit
• 2-3 minutes to complete (~6 min.for opioid users)
• Available in English and Spanish
• Paper or digital form
• Reviewed by the clinician for screening and intervention, if needed

SCIENCE

Validity-Qualitative and quantitative findings validate that the PROMOTE is effective and usable for psychosocial and substance use screening, it is well-accepted by patients² and providers³  and improves care delivery and patient provider communication.³  Convergent and divergent validity testing indicate that the single items in the PROMOTE are valid operationalizations of the constructs they measure (e.g., stress, health behaviors, social support). Predictive validity testing indicates high accuracy in predicting prenatal depression⁴ and prenatal substance use.⁵ 

Data-This systematic screening yields discrete data that can be used in chart review research looking at effects of social determinants of health and psychosocial vulnerability on maternal health.

Harmonization- The psychosocial data in the PROMOTE can be harmonized to produce rich cross-institutional and nation-wide datasets examining impacts of life context on maternal health outcomes. 

1. National Institute of Drug A. NIDA Quick Screen. Accessed 9/2/2019. 2019.

2. Preis H, Djurić PM, Ajirak M, et al. Missingness patterns in a comprehensive instrument identifying psychosocial vulnerability and substance use in antenatal care. J Reprod Infant Psychol. Nov 17 2021:1-15. doi:10.1080/02646838.2021.2004302

3. Preis H, Whitney C, Kocis C, Lobel M. Saving time, signaling trust: Using the PROMOTE self-report screening instrument to enhance prenatal care quality and therapeutic relationships. PEC Innovation. 2022;

4. Preis H., Garry, DJ, Herrera K, Garretto, DJ, Lobel M, Improving Assessment, Treatment, and Understanding of Pregnant Women with Opioid Use Disorder: The Importance of Life Context. Women's Reproductive Health. 2020;7

5. Azeem A. Predicting Substance Use Status During Pregnancy Using Psychosocial Vulnerabilities. Honor's Thesis. Stony Brook University; 2023.