Cent Eur J Public Health 2011, 19(2):63-66 | DOI: 10.21101/cejph.a3631

Factors Associated with Quit Attempts and Quitting among Eastern Hungarian Women who Smoked at the Time of Pregnancy

Kristie L. Foley¹, Péter Balázs², Andrea Grenczer³, Ildikó Rákóczi⁴

¹ Medical Humanities Program, Davidson College, Davidson, NC, USA

² Institute of Public Health, Semmelweis University, Budapest, Hungary

³ Department of Family Care Methodology, Semmelweis University, Budapest, Hungary

⁴ Department of Family Care, University of Debrecen, Nyiregyháza, Hungary

Introduction: The purpose of this research was to assess factors associated with quit attempts and successful smoking cessation among a sample of socioeconomically disadvantaged pregnant women living in Eastern Hungary.

Materials and methods: In-person interviews were conducted among 201 women residing in Eastern Hungary who self-identified as occasional or regular smokers at the time they learned they were pregnant.

Results: 54% of the women were smokers at the time they learned they were pregnant. Just over half tried to quit, but only 20% were successful. Factors associated with reduced likelihood of quit attempts included being a regular (vs. occasional) smoker (OR=0.36, 95% CI 0.13-1.00) and being Roma (vs. non-Roma) (OR=0.32, 95% CI 0.14-0.72). Women who completed high school were 71/2 times more likely to quit (OR=7.5, 95% CI 1.68-33.2) and those who were employed were 71/2 times more likely to quit (OR=7.6, 95% CI 1.88-30.35). Regular smokers were 88% less likely to quit than occasional smokers.

Discussion: Smoking cessation interventions targeting pregnant women are needed in Eastern Hungary. Efforts to integrate smoking cessation into the current excellent pre-natal care and health visitor program will reach most women who are pregnant or who have given birth within the preceding 3 years.

Keywords: smoking, pregnancy, Roma, maternal and child health, prenatal

Received: July 19, 2010; Revised: March 7, 2011; Accepted: March 7, 2011; Published: June 1, 2011  Show citation