A nurse-managed smoking cessation intervention during pregnancy

Abstract

Objective: To evaluate the effectiveness of a nurse-managed smoking cessation intervention in an outpatient setting among pregnant women who smoked.

Design: Prospective; control group participants' cessation rates were assessed 6-12 weeks after clinic contact. They were compared to cessation rates for subsequent intervention participants 6-12 weeks after receiving a nurse-managed smoking cessation intervention.

Setting/participants: One hundred seventy-eight women who were daily smokers, during their first visit after confirmation of pregnancy at a teaching hospital prenatal clinic.

Intervention: Fifteen-minute individualized intervention delivered by an advanced-practice nurse, combined with a telephone contact by an advanced-practice nurse 7-10 days after the clinic visit.

Main outcome measures: Self-report of smoking, confirmed by saliva cotinine.

Results: Intervention group participants had a self-reported abstinence rate of 19% compared with 0% among control group participants. The cotinine-validated abstinence rate for the intervention group was 15.5%, compared with 0% in the control group. African Americans were more likely to quit, compared with white participants who received the intervention.

Conclusion: A nurse-managed intervention combined with a telephone contact may be an effective strategy for intervening with pregnant smokers, especially African Americans.