Attitudes to E-Cigarettes and Cessation Support for Pregnant Women from English Stop Smoking Services: A Mixed Methods Study
by
Sue Cooper 1,*,†
, Sophie Orton 1,†, Katarzyna A. Campbell 1,†, Michael Ussher 2,3,†, Naomi Coleman-Haynes 1,†, Rachel Whitemore 1,†, Anne Dickinson 1,†, Andy McEwen 4,†, Sarah Lewis 5,†, Felix Naughton 6,†, Katharine Bowker 1,†, Lesley Sinclair 7,†, Linda Bauld 7,† and Tim Coleman 1,†
Sue Cooper 1,*,†, Sophie Orton 1,†, Katarzyna A. Campbell 1,†, Michael Ussher 2,3,†, Naomi Coleman-Haynes 1,†, Rachel Whitemore 1,†, Anne Dickinson 1,†, Andy McEwen 4,†, Sarah Lewis 5,†, Felix Naughton 6,†, Katharine Bowker 1,†, Lesley Sinclair 7,†, Linda Bauld 7,† and Tim Coleman 1,†
1
Division of Primary Care, University of Nottingham, Tower Building, University Park, Nottingham NG7 2RD, UK
2
Population Health Research Institute, St George’s University of London, Cranmer Terrace, Tooting, London SW17 0RE, UK
3
Institute for Social Marketing, Faculty of Health Sciences and Sport, University of Stirling, Stirling FK9 4LA, UK
4
National Centre of Smoking Cessation and Training, Dorchester DT1 2DY, UK
5
Division of Epidemiology and Public health, University of Nottingham, Nottingham City Hospital, Nottingham NG5 1PB, UK
6
School of Health Sciences, University of East Anglia, Norwich NR4 7UL, UK
7
Usher Institute, College of Medicine and Veterinary Medicine, University of Edinburgh, Teviot Place, Edinburgh EH8 9AG, UK
*
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
†
All authors are also affiliated to the UK Centre for Tobacco and Alcohol Studies (UKCTAS), Nottingham NG5 1PB, UK.
Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2019, 16(1), 110; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph16010110
Received: 25 October 2018 / Revised: 13 December 2018 / Accepted: 20 December 2018 / Published: 3 January 2019
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Tobacco Harm Reduction)
Smoking in pregnancy remains a public health problem. In the UK e-cigarettes are the most popular aid to quitting smoking outside of pregnancy, but we don’t know the extent of e-cigarette use in pregnancy or how English Stop Smoking Services (SSS) respond to pregnant women who vape. In 2015 we surveyed SSS managers about cessation support for pregnant women and responses to clients who vaped. Subsequently we interviewed a sub-sample of managers to seek explanations for the SSS’ position on e-cigarettes; interviews were thematically analysed. Survey response rate was 67.8% (72/106); overall managers reported 2.2% (range 1.4–4.3%) of pregnant clients were using e-cigarettes. Most SSS reported supporting pregnant women who already vaped, but would not recommend e-cigarette use; for women that were still smoking and not using e-cigarettes, 8.3% of SSS were likely/very likely to advise using e-cigarettes, with 56.9% of SSS unlikely/very unlikely to advise using them. Fifteen respondents were interviewed; interviewees were generally positive about the potential of e-cigarettes for cessation in pregnancy although concerns about perceived lack of evidence for safety were expressed and most wanted research on this. Clear guidance on e-cigarette use informed by pregnancy specific research will assist SSS to provide consistent evidence-based support.
View Full-Text
Keywords:
smoking cessation; smoking; pregnancy; e-cigarettes; electronic cigarettes; stop smoking services; survey; interviews; mixed methods
This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited
- Supplementary File 1:
PDF-Document (PDF, 160 KB)
MDPI and ACS Style
Cooper, S.; Orton, S.; Campbell, K.A.; Ussher, M.; Coleman-Haynes, N.; Whitemore, R.; Dickinson, A.; McEwen, A.; Lewis, S.; Naughton, F.; Bowker, K.; Sinclair, L.; Bauld, L.; Coleman, T. Attitudes to E-Cigarettes and Cessation Support for Pregnant Women from English Stop Smoking Services: A Mixed Methods Study. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2019, 16, 110.
Show more citation formats
Note that from the first issue of 2016, MDPI journals use article numbers instead of page numbers. See further details here.
