Abstract:
Objective To evaluate the effect of a skill development based intervention program to reduce passive smoke exposure among pregnant women.
Methods Six communities(four intervention communities and two control communities) of a district in Shanghai were selected for this study. An intervention program based on skill development was implemented in the intervention group throughout the participants' whole pregnancy. Totally, 3 240 pregnant women(intervention group: n=2 151; control group: n=1 089) participated in the study from March 2011 to February 2012 to compare the changes in their passive smoke exposure time and rate in selected location categories and their knowledge scores about the harms of passive smoke before and after the intervention program.
Results The passive smoking rate at home of the intervention group dropped from 21.9% to 3.2% at the end of the intervention, while that of the control group from 12.0% to 2.8%. The reduction showed significant differences between the two groups after verification by mixed effect model(P=0.006). With the difference of passive smoking rates at baseline between the intervention group and the control group being removed, the passive smoking rate at home of the intervention group was 50% of the control group at the end of intervention. The passive smoking rate of the intervention group was reduced from 12.6% to 1.2% at indoor work places and from 29.1% at baseline to 5.0% at public places, but no difference in the reduction of passive smoking rate at indoor work places and public places between the intervention group and the control group. With the difference of passive smoking time at baseline between the intervention group and the control group being removed, the passive smoking time at home of the intervention group was shorter than that of the control group(P=0.000 7). No differences between the intervention group and the control group were found in the changes of passive smoking time at indoor work places or public places(P> 0.05).
Conclusion The intervention based on skill training and knowledge education could reduce pregnant women's exposure to passive smoke at home. Further efforts should focus on exploring effective measures to reduce passive smoke exposure in indoor work places and public places.