Health education for pregnant smokers: Its behavioral impact and cost benefit

R.A. Windsor, J.B. Lowe, L.L. Perkins, D. Smith-Yoder, L. Artz, M. Crawford, K. Amburgy and N.R. Boyd

American Journal of Public Health, 1993, vol. 83, issue 2, 201-206

Abstract: Objectives. A randomized trial (the Birmingham Trial II) was conducted to evaluate the behavioral impact of health education methods among 814 female smokers at four public health maternity clinics. Methods. Four hundred patients were randomly assigned to an Experimental (E) Group, and 414 were assigned to a Control (C) Group. Self-reports and saliva cotinine tests confirmed smoking status at the first visit, at midpregnancy, and at end of pregnancy. Results. The E Group exhibited a 14.3% quit rate and the C Group an 8.5% quit rate. A Historical Comparison (C) Group exhibited a 3.0% quit rate. Black E and C Group patients had higher quit rates than White E and C Group patients. A cost-benefit analysis found cost-to-benefit ratios of $1:$6.72 (low estimate) and $1:$17.18 (high estimate) and an estimated savings of $247 296 (low estimate) and $699 240 (high estimate). Conclusion. Health education methods are efficacious and cost beneficial for pregnant smokers in public health maternity clinics.

Date: 1993
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (7)

There are no downloads for this item, see the EconPapers FAQ for hints about obtaining it.

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:aph:ajpbhl:1993:83:2:201-206_0

Access Statistics for this article

American Journal of Public Health is currently edited by Alfredo Morabia

More articles in American Journal of Public Health from American Public Health Association
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Christopher F Baum ().