Pediatrician intervention impacts parental smoking in cystic fibrosis, diabetes, and bronchiolitis

Background Child exposure to cigarette smoke is harmful. It should be reduced through parental smoking cessation interventions. The aim of our study was to determine the impact of simple advice provided by the pediatrician on the smoking habits of parents of children with cystic fibrosis (CF), diabetes mellitus (DM) and infants hospitalized for bronchiolitis. Methods Parents were interviewed on their smoking habits. Smoking cessation advice was provided by the pediatrician. A new smoking habits assessment was done at three months by phone interviews. Results Two hundred and sixty parents were interviewed (91 in the CF group, 136 in the DM group and 33 in the bronchiolitis group). Seventy parents were active smokers: 33% of parents of children with CF, 23.5% of parents of children with DM and 24.2 % for those with infants hospitalized for bronchiolitis (p = 0.42). In the CF group, smoking cessation had been significantly more frequently discussed with the medical team previously. Sixty-seven smoking parents (95.7%) answered the 3-month assessment: 29.8% reported having started a smoking cessation process; 10.4% had quit smoking. The quitting rate was significantly higher in the groups of patients followed for a respiratory disorder (37.5% for bronchiolitis, 15% for CF versus 0% for DM, p= 0.005). Conclusion This study shows the important role that information and simple advice from pediatricians can have in initiating smoking cessation in parents of patients followed in specialized clinics or who are hospitalized, with a greater efficiency in parents of patients suffering from lung disorders. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.