Helping Chinese fathers quit smoking through educating their nonsmoking spouses: a randomized controlled trial

Abstract

Purpose: Assess the effectiveness of a two-step health education program by nurses delivered through nonsmoking mothers to help fathers of sick children quit smoking.

Design: Randomized, controlled trial.

Setting: General pediatric wards of four major hospitals in Hong Kong.

Subjects: Nonsmoking mothers who had a live-in smoking spouse were recruited when they brought sick children to the hospital. A total of 752 mothers were randomized into the intervention arm and 731 into the control arm.

Intervention: The intervention group received standardized health advice, behavior modification booklets, and a 1-week telephone reminder. The control group received usual care.

Measurements: The main outcome measure was the quit rate (7-day point prevalence) of smoking fathers as determined by telephone follow-up with mothers at 3 and 12 months. Quit attempts and smoking reduction were secondary outcome measures.

Results: At 3 months, more fathers in the intervention group had quit smoking (7.4% vs. 4.8%; p = .03), reduced daily cigarette consumption by 50% or more (30.6% vs. 22.6%; p < .001), and reported quit attempts (6.5% vs. 3.6%; p = .01). The differences were not statistically significant by 12 months.

Conclusion: A simple health education intervention provided by nurses to mothers of sick children has a short-term effect in helping smoking fathers quit, reduce consumption, and trigger quit attempts. Future studies should confirm the longer-term sustainability of the effect.