Health Care Providersʼ Practice of Smoking Cessation in Pregnant Women and Child Guardians: North–Central Florida [363]

• Published in: Obstetrics and gynecology (New York. 1953) Vol. 125 Suppl 1; no. Supplement 1; p. 22S
• Main Authors: Kidd, Jennifer, Spiryda, Lisa Beth
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: by The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists. Published by Wolters Kluwer Health, Inc. All rights reserved 01.05.2015
• ISSN: 0029-7844; 1873-233X
• DOI: 10.1097/01.AOG.0000463716.37075.4d

INTRODUCTION:Epidemiology of smoking rates in pregnant women for north–central Florida was above Florida levels and Healthy People 2020 goals. In prior studies, physicians had limitations in smoking cessation skills and proper training to augment patient behavior. METHODS:The literature and current smoking cessation guidelines were the foundation for a physician survey. The contacted sample included 356 e-mails of obstetric and pediatric providers from 16 counties obtained from the Florida Department of Health and Healthy Start Coalitions. The data were analyzed by SPSS for trends and P<.05 to reject null hypothesis. RESULTS:The survey had 41 participants or an 11.0% overall response rate. A total of 94.9% of responses were from obstetric and pediatric providers and were from Alachua County; 5.1% of responses were from office and management staff. A total of 92.5% of health care providers self-identified as stakeholders in cessation counseling. A total of 66.7% of health care providers identified as average or better preparation in cessation counseling, although 55% admitted to no formal cessation training. Obstetric responses had statistically greater frequency of counseling than pediatric responses for all steps except second-hand smoke. Both groups of health care providers frequently asked about smoking exposure and advised on smoking risk. The subsequent steps of assessing willingness to quit, planning assistance, and follow-up had less occurrence. The major barriers to counseling were time limitations and uninterested patients. CONCLUSION:The data were consistent with prior large scale samples with similar decline in cessation steps, even with this small sample. The byproduct was a health care provider infographic focused on counseling knowledge.