Telephone Intervention for Pregnant Smokers: A Randomized Controlled Trial

Area of Science:

• Public Health
• Behavioral Science
• Maternal Health

Background:

• Many pregnant smokers struggle to quit despite health advisories.
• The efficacy of telephone counseling for pregnant smokers remains largely unestablished.
• Behavioral interventions are crucial for improving smoking cessation success rates.

Purpose of the Study:

• To test the efficacy of a pregnancy-specific telephone counseling intervention.
• To evaluate the effectiveness of integrating this counseling into a state quitline.
• To determine if telephone counseling improves smoking abstinence in pregnant women.

Main Methods:

• A two-group randomized controlled trial (RCT) involving 1,173 pregnant smokers.
• Intervention group received telephone counseling plus self-help materials; control group received self-help materials only.
• Participants were assessed for prolonged abstinence at the third trimester, and at 2 and 6 months postpartum.

Main Results:

• Higher abstinence rates in the intervention group compared to the control group at end of pregnancy (29.6% vs 20.1%) and 2 months postpartum (22.1% vs 14.8%).
• Sustained higher abstinence rates at 6 months postpartum (14.4% vs 8.2%) in the intervention group.
• Cotinine-corrected 7-day abstinence rates at end of pregnancy were significantly higher for the intervention group (35.8% vs 22.5%).

Conclusions:

• A pregnancy-specific counseling protocol delivered via quitlines is effective for smoking cessation in pregnant smokers.
• The intervention demonstrated success in helping pregnant individuals quit and remain abstinent postpartum.
• Widespread adoption of this intervention could reduce maternal smoking rates and associated health consequences.