The purpose of the present study is to provide population-based estimates of prenatal care counseling about smoking and to determine whether counseling is associated with smoking cessation during the pregnancy.
Data were from the Pregnancy Risk Assessment Monitoring System (PRAMS); 1998 data were used for 10 states with at least a 70% overall response rate. Differences in smoking cessation (by the third trimester of pregnancy) by prenatal care counseling status were assessed with the Chi-square statistic and were stratified by race/ethnicity (non-Hispanic white, non-Hispanic black, Hispanic). Logistic regression will be used to model the odds of smoking cessation by counseling status among white women; the model will control for potential demographic and psychosocial confounders, including state of residence and level of smoking before pregnancy [light (1-9 cigarettes/day), medium (10-19 cigarettes/day), heavy (20+ cigarettes/day)].
The overall prevalence of counseling was 90.8% (SE 0.8), and the overall prevalence of smoking cessation was 45.5% (SE 1.3). White and black women were less likely to report smoking cessation if they had received counseling (X2=16.3, a=0.0001; X2=4.7, a=0.03; respectively). No significant differences were observed for Hispanic women (X2=2.4, a=0.12). Smoking cessation varied significantly by level of smoking [heavy: 28.1% (SE 1.6); medium: 49.8% (SE 2.4); light: 72.0% (SE 2.3)].
Preliminary findings suggest that more effective smoking cessation interventions may be needed than are currently provided on a widespread basis, particularly for heavy smokers. Possible reasons for the observed associations will be discussed.
Learning Objectives: At the conclusion of the presentation, the participant should recognize that pregnant smokers represent an important group to target for smoking cessation and that current standards for physician counseling may not be sufficient to promote behavior change in this population
Keywords: Prenatal Care, 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.