Reducing postpartum smoking relapse: A pilot test of an individualized supportive intervention with African-American women

The purpose of this study was to test the efficacy of an individualized supportive intervention to reduce post partum relapse in African American Women. Approximately 70-80% of African American women who quit smoking during pregnancy relapsed after childbirth. There were two hypotheses for this study; 1) there is a significant difference in stages of smoking cessation after smoking prevention interventions between the experimental group and control group 2) there is a significant difference in intention of staying smoking free after smoking prevention interventions between the experimental group and the control group. This quasi experimental study design consisted of a sample of ten African American women ages 18-40 years, who have quit smoking during pregnancy and delivered at an inner-city University Hospital in Newark, New Jersey. Patients were randomly assigned to either the control group or the experimental group. Intervention strategies included the 3 A's, (ask, advice, and assess) and 5 R's (relevance, risks, rewards, roadblocks, and repetition). The results were not statistically significant due to limited sample size and length of study time. However the results from the study were clinically meaningful and significant with regard to desired outcomes because at the end of intervention, participants in the experimental group demonstrated stronger intention of smoking cessation than that from the first follow up and had moved toward the maintenance stage of smoking cessation. The study findings have supported the theoretical framework that people change their behavior in different stages.