title: Smoking and Cellular Telephone Use Among Pregnant Women Seeking Prenatal Care: Opportunities for Intervention.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Although smoking during pregnancy is associated with poor pregnancy outcomes, many women continue to smoke throughout pregnancy. Behavioral interventions for smoking cessation yield modest benefits, particularly in lower socioeconomic groups. Pharmacotherapy, a first-line option for smoking cessation, has not shown clear benefits for pregnant smokers, partly due to limited adherence. We evaluated the feasibility of conducting a pharmacotherapy trial for smoking cessation in pregnant women, using text messaging to enhance medication adherence.
  
  
  METHODS
  We surveyed 724 predominantly minority pregnant women to examine the prevalence and correlates of smoking and the use of cellular telephones and text messaging.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Nearly 18% of the respondents were current smokers, with a majority (67.7%) expressing interest in participating in a smoking cessation trial. Only about 6% of women with a smoking history ever received nicotine dependence treatment. Smokers were significantly more likely to be depressed than non-smokers. The vast majority of respondents (92.1%) owned cell phones, with 93.2% having an unlimited text-messaging plan.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  These data support the feasibility of conducting a pharmacotherapy smoking cessation trial and using text messaging to enhance medication adherence in a predominantly minority population of pregnant smokers.
authors.affiliation: Treatment Research Center, Department of Psychiatry, University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine, Philadelphia, PA 19104.
authors.forename: Jennifer
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Gilbert
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine, Philadelphia, PA 19104.
authors.forename: Robert
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Schnoll
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, Temple University School of Medicine, Philadelphia, PA 19125.
authors.forename: Mary F
authors.initials: MF
authors.lastname: Morrison
authors.affiliation: Division of Maternal-Fetal Medicine, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine, Philadelphia, PA 19104.
authors.forename: Sindhu K
authors.initials: SK
authors.lastname: Srinivas
authors.affiliation: Treatment Research Center, Department of Psychiatry, University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine, Philadelphia, PA 19104.
authors.forename: Timothy
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Pond
authors.affiliation: Treatment Research Institute, Philadelphia, PA 19106.
authors.forename: Brenda
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Curtis
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, Temple University School of Medicine, Philadelphia, PA 19125.
authors.forename: Jennifer
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Henry
authors.affiliation: Treatment Research Center, Department of Psychiatry, University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine, Philadelphia, PA 19104; Philadelphia VAMC, Philadelphia, PA 19104.
authors.forename: Henry R
authors.initials: HR
authors.lastname: Kranzler
keywords: Cellular telephone use; Pharmacotherapy trial; Smoking during pregnancy; Text messaging; depression