title: Tobacco withdrawal symptoms and urges to smoke in pregnant versus non-pregnant smokers.
abstract: We compared tobacco withdrawal in pregnant and non-pregnant smokers abstaining from smoking for 24h. Female smokers completed an internet-based questionnaire, including the Minnesota Nicotine Withdrawal Scale-Revised (MNWS). They also rated additional withdrawal items and strength of urge to smoke. Consenting women were randomized to either: (i) abstain from smoking for 24h or (ii) smoke as usual. After 24h they rated their withdrawal again. We included a 'smoking as usual' group as we wished to establish that smoking abstinence increased withdrawal symptoms. Two-hundred and seventy-five women completed both the initial and the 24h questionnaire and reported abstaining (n=115, 17% pregnant) or smoking (n=160, 21% pregnant) as requested. Exclusively among abstinent smokers, we compared symptoms for the pregnant and non-pregnant groups. After 24h pregnant women had significantly lower scores than non-pregnant women for the mean MNWS (p=0.004) and for three individual MNWS symptoms (angry, p=0.010; anxious, p=0.048; impatient, p=0.011), with adjustments for baseline cigarette consumption and baseline withdrawal scores. Overall, on the first day of smoking abstinence, pregnant women are likely to report less severe tobacco withdrawal than non-pregnant women.
authors.affiliation: Division of Population Health Sciences and Education, St George's University of London, London SW17 ORE, UK. mussher@sgul.ac.uk
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ussher
authors.forename: Jean-Francois
authors.initials: JF
authors.lastname: Etter
authors.forename: Nikoletta
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Giatras
authors.forename: Tim
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Coleman
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D009042:Motivation; D010349:Patient Compliance; D011247:Pregnancy; D011248:Pregnancy Complications / Q000523:psychology*; D012008:Recurrence; D012907:Smoking / Q000523:psychology*; D016540:Smoking Cessation / Q000523:psychology*; D000074606:Smoking Prevention; D013375:Substance Withdrawal Syndrome / Q000523:psychology*