Do Clinicians Ask Pregnant Women about Exposures to Tobacco and Cannabis Smoking, Second-Hand-Smoke and E-Cigarettes? An Australian National Cross-Sectional Survey

Gillian S. Gould, Yael Bar Zeev, Laura Tywman, Christopher Oldmeadow, Simon Chiu, Marilyn Clarke and Billie Bonevski
Additional contact information
Gillian S. Gould: School of Medicine and Public Health, The University of Newcastle, University Drive, Callaghan, NSW 2308, Australia
Yael Bar Zeev: School of Medicine and Public Health, The University of Newcastle, University Drive, Callaghan, NSW 2308, Australia
Laura Tywman: School of Medicine and Public Health, The University of Newcastle, University Drive, Callaghan, NSW 2308, Australia
Christopher Oldmeadow: Hunter Medical Research Institute, Newcastle, NSW 2305, Australia
Simon Chiu: Hunter Medical Research Institute, Newcastle, NSW 2305, Australia
Marilyn Clarke: Clarence Specialist Clinic, Grafton, NSW 2460, Australia
Billie Bonevski: School of Medicine and Public Health, The University of Newcastle, University Drive, Callaghan, NSW 2308, Australia

IJERPH, 2017, vol. 14, issue 12, 1-11

Abstract: Clinicians often ask pregnant women about tobacco smoking, but their practices of asking about other smoking and nicotine exposures are unknown. This study analysed how often clinicians ask pregnant women about their use of e-cigarettes, cannabis, chewing tobacco, and second-hand smoke (SHS) exposure. Two cross-sectional surveys were undertaken. A random sample of 500 General Practitioner (GP) members were invited from the National Faculty of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health (NFATSIH) to complete an on-line survey, and 5571 GP and Obstetrician (OBS) members of the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (RANZCOG) were sent a paper survey by mail. Questions on frequency of asking about the exposures used Likert Scales, later dichotomized to “often-always” and “never-sometimes”. Logistic regressions estimated associations between clinician type and asking about cannabis, e-cigarettes, chewing tobacco, and SHS. An adjusted model reduced potential confounders of location, guidelines, gender and population. n = 378 GPs and OBS participated (6.2% response). In total, 13–14% asked “often-always” about e-cigarettes; 58% cannabis; 38% cannabis with tobacco; 27% SHS, and 10% chewing tobacco—compared to 95% of the sample asking about cigarette smoking. After adjustment, the odds of RANZCOG GPs (OR 0.34) and OBS (OR 0.63) asking about cannabis were lower compared to NFATSIH GPs. Clinician type was non-significant for asking about e-cigarettes, chewing tobacco and SHS. Surveyed Australian GPs and obstetricians asked less frequently about e-cigarettes, chewing, SHS exposure, and cannabis, potentially missing important exposures for mother and child.

Keywords: pregnancy; electronic cigarettes; cannabis; tobacco; smoking; tobacco; smokeless tobacco (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2017
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (4)

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