Telephone smoking cessation quitline use among pregnant and non-pregnant women

To describe characteristics, referrals, service utilization, and self-reported quit rates among pregnant and non-pregnant women enrolled in a smoking cessation quitline. This information can be used to improve strategies to increase pregnant and non-pregnant smokers' use of quitlines. We examined tobacco use characteristics, referral sources, and use of services among 1,718 pregnant and 24,321 non-pregnant women aged 18-44 years enrolled in quitline services in 10 states during 2006-2008. We examined self-reported 30-day quit rates 7 months after enrollment among 246 pregnant and 4,123 non-pregnant women and, within groups, used Chi-square tests to compare quit rates by type of service received. The majority of pregnant and non-pregnant callers, respectively, smoked [greater than or equal to] 10 cigarettes per day (62%; 83%), had recently attempted to quit (55%; 58%), smoked 5 or minutes after waking (59%; 55%), and lived with a smoker (63%; 48%). Of callers, 24.3% of pregnant and 36.4% of non-pregnant women were uninsured. Pregnant callers heard about the quitline most often from a health care provider (50%) and non-pregnant callers most often through mass media (59%). Over half of pregnant (52%) and non-pregnant (57%) women received self-help materials only, the remainder received counseling. Self-reported quit rates at 7 months after enrollment in the subsample were 26.4% for pregnant women and 22.6% for non-pregnant women. Quitlines provide needed services for pregnant and non-pregnant smokers, many of whom are uninsured. Smokers should be encouraged to access counseling services. Keywords Female * Pregnancy * Smoking cessation * Telephone counseling
Introduction Women who quit smoking before pregnancy reduce their risk of reproductive health-related problems, such as conception delay and infertility [1], and those who quit before or during pregnancy reduce [...]