- Title
- Smoking rates and smoking cessation preferences of pregnant women attending antenatal clinics of two large Australian maternity hospitals
- Creator
- Hoekzema, Laura; Werumeus Buning, Annabel; Bonevski, Billie; Wolke, Lisa; Wong, Swee; Drinkwater, Paul; Stewart, Kay; George, Johnson
- Relation
- Australian and New Zealand Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology Vol. 54, Issue 1, p. 53-58
- Publisher Link
- http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/ajo.12148
- Publisher
- Wiley-Blackwell
- Resource Type
- journal article
- Date
- 2014
- Description
- Background: Tobacco smoking is the most important preventable cause of many adverse pregnancy outcomes. Some women continue to smoke during pregnancy although the harmful effects are evident. Aims: To characterise pregnant smokers and to understand their smoking behaviours and preferences for smoking cessation. Materials and Methods: Pregnant women (≥18 years) attending the antenatal clinics of two large Victorian maternity hospitals completed a prepiloted questionnaire which included items regarding socio-demographics, smoking habits and attitudes towards quitting. Results: Smoking status was self-reported by 1899 participants; 125 (6.6%) were current smokers and 604 (31.8%) were ex-smokers. There were 87 (69.6%) daily smokers and 38 (30.4%) occasional smokers. Smokers mainly had medium (54; 43.2%) or heavy nicotine dependence (45; 36%). Current smokers were younger, Australian born, not living with a partner, from a lower socio-economic background, multigravida and had a smoker in their household or among friends. Although pregnant smokers were aware of the possible complications of smoking, their motivation and confidence to quit (median) on a 10-point scale were 7 and 4, respectively. The majority of smokers preferred to stop smoking gradually (74; 71.2%). The preferred methods for quitting were medications (49; 47.6%) and hypnotherapy (35; 34.0%). Patches (28; 29.5%) were the preferred dosage form, and nicotine replacement therapy (25; 28.1%) was the preferred medication. Less than half reported that their health professionals discouraged smoking during pregnancy. Conclusions: Health professionals should be more proactive in identifying smokers and offering smoking cessation support in pregnancy. Multidisciplinary smoking cessation interventions for pregnant smokers are warranted.
- Subject
- attitudes; health personnel; pregnancy; smoking; smoking cessation
- Identifier
- http://hdl.handle.net/1959.13/1306990
- Identifier
- uon:21304
- Identifier
- ISSN:0004-8666
- Language
- eng
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