Smoking cessation in pregnancy: a self-help approach.
During a 3-month recruitment period, a smoking cessation program was provided to all pregnant women who attended an HMO prenatal clinic and reported either that they were currently smokers (n = 35) or that they had quit at pregnancy onset (n = 23). Except for its in-clinic introduction, the behavioral smoking cessation program used a home-correspondence format with seven weekly mailings and a telephone answering system adjunct. At follow-up, all 23 women who identified themselves at baseline as self-initiated quitters reported continued abstinence from smoking. Urine thiocyanate assays confirmed these self-report data in 82% of the cases. Results of a multivariate analysis identified three factors--gravida, number of years a smoker, and number of friends who smoke--as significant predictors of self-initiated quitting. Of the 35 women who indicated that they were still smoking at baseline, 10 (28.5%) reported that they had stopped smoking at the time of the postprogram assessment. Available urine thiocyanate assays confirmed a nonsmoking status in all cases. The multivariate results indicated that four variables--gravida, severe nausea, baseline smoking rate, and spouse's smoking status--were significant predictors of quitting following exposure to the program. The majority of both self-initiated quitters and postprogram quitters reported that the program was useful in helping them to quit smoking and/or to remain abstinent over time. These results lend support to the viability of a home-correspondence, self-help program as a means for facilitating smoking cessation and continued abstinence from smoking during pregnancy.
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001521:Behavior Therapy / Q000379:methods*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D011247:Pregnancy; D011248:Pregnancy Complications / Q000628:therapy*; D012648:Self Care; D013861:Thiocyanates / Q000652:urine; D014029:Tobacco Use Disorder / Q000628:therapy*
D013861:Thiocyanates; C031760:thiocyanate