5002.0: Wednesday, November 15, 2000 - 9:24 AM

Abstract #15724

Smoking Parents in the Pediatric Emergency Department: Ready, Able, and Willing to Quit

Bruce M. Becker, MD, Department of Community Health, Brown University School of Medicine, Box G, Brown University, Providence, RI 02912, 401-444-6654, bbecker@lifespan.org, Judith F. DePue, EdD, Department of Behavioral Medicine, Brown University School of Medicine, and Allesandra Kazura, MD, Brown University School of Medicine.

. Objectives: To determine whether smoking parents bringing their children to a Pediatric ED for treatment of Acute Respiratory Illness (ARI) are good candidates for a smoking cessation intervention. Methods: A survey administered by research assistants (RA) to a convenience sample of adults presenting with their children to a Pediatric ED. Results: RA’s recruited 257 parents of whom 195 (76%) were women. Surveys revealed: 57.4% of parents thought that smoking affected their child’s health extremely; 63.4% had smoking at the top of their list of worries; 92.7% tried to limit their child’s exposure to cigarette smoke by often or always: smoking in a different room (69.2%), smoking with an open window or fan (55.5%), smoking outside (74.6%), or by choosing non-smoking sections (56.7%); 57.6% of parents wanted to quit very much or extremely; and 73.6% of parents were contemplating or preparing to quit smoking (Motivational Stage, Prochaska et al.) Conclusions: Smoking parents who bring their children to the Pediatric ED with ARI are concerned about the affect of smoking on their children’s health, have already taken steps to limit their children’s exposure to cigarette smoke, and are interested in quitting. The ED visit appears to be an ideal opportunity to provide this population of smokers with a smoking cessation intervention.

Learning Objectives: Identify the characteristics of smoking parents in a pediatric ED that demonstrate their readiness to quit smoking

Keywords: Smoking Cessation,

Presenting author's disclosure statement:
Organization/institution whose products or services will be discussed: None
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.

The 128th Annual Meeting of APHA