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Health education for pregnant smokers: its behavioral impact and cost benefit
R A Windsor1, J B Lowe, L L Perkins
1School of Public Health, University of Alabama, Birmingham.
Objectives:
A randomized trial (the Birmingham Trial II) was conducted to evaluate the behavioral impact of health education methods among 814 female smokers at four public health maternity clinics.
Methods:
Four hundred patients were randomly assigned to an Experimental (E) Group, and 414 were assigned to a Control (C) Group. Self-reports and saliva cotinine tests confirmed smoking status at the first visit, at midpregnancy, and at end of pregnancy.
Results:
The E Group exhibited a 14.3% quit rate and the C Group an 8.5% quit rate. A Historical Comparison (C) Group exhibited a 3.0% quit rate. Black E and C Group patients had higher quit rates than White E and C Group patients. A cost-benefit analysis found cost-to-benefit ratios of $1:$6.72 (low estimate) and $1:$17.18 (high estimate) and an estimated savings of $247,296 (low estimate) and $699,240 (high estimate).
Conclusion:
Health education methods are efficacious and cost beneficial for pregnant smokers in public health maternity clinics.