The purpose of this study is to improve the health of mothers and their children by encouraging maternal smoking cessation during their child's pediatric health visit. The project uses a rationale mentioned by the Surgeon General (1980) -- that successful smoking cessation may occur in women when their attitudes about smoking shift from a general concern for their own health to one of personal significance -- their child's health. Two interventions designed to motivate mothers of pediatric patients to quit smoking will be compared to each other and to a control intervention which will measure the baseline quit rate. Mothers of children who are patients at the Columbus Children's Hospital Primary Care Center (PCC) will be eligible. The PCC serves a largely indigent population; 38% of mothers in prior surveys considered themselves to be smokers. Smokers who agree to participate will be randomly assigned to one of three groups: Child Health Group (CHG), Maternal Health Group (MHG) or Control Group (CG). Information will be obtained from all mothers on demographic variables, nicotine dependence, perceived health of the child, stage of smoking cessation, selected health and safety behaviors, and knowledge of risks of passive smoking. All subjects will receive a brief (5-10 minute) intervention: Information for CHG mothers will be only on the health risks of their smoking for their children, for MHG mothers on the negative effects of smoking for the smoker herself, and for CG mothers on child safety. We hypothesize that long-term smoking cessation rates among CHG mothers will be significantly greater than MHG mothers, and that both CHG and MHG mothers will be more successful at quitting than controls. Subjects will be recontacted at 1 and 6 months post enrollment. All self- reported quitters will have a saliva cotinine assay to confirm their status as non-smokers. The proportion of quitters in each group will be compared, and baseline variables will be analyzed to see which are associated with successful smoking cessation.
| Groner, J A; Ahijevych, K; Grossman, L K et al. (2000) The impact of a brief intervention on maternal smoking behavior. Pediatrics 105:267-71 |
| Groner, J; Ahijevych, K; Grossman, L et al. (1998) Smoking behaviors of women whose children attend an urban pediatric primary care clinic. Women Health 28:19-32 |
