OBJECTIVES: Our aim was to assess the use of dual/poly tobacco in a sample of pregnant women.
DESIGN: cross-sectional survey.
METHODS: Twenty prenatal care units in Botucatu, Sao Paulo, Brazil. We evaluated 127 high-risk pregnant smokers during prenatal care. Those who were 12-38 weeks pregnant and were currently smoking conventional cigarettes. The study enrollment took place between January 2015 and December 2015. The dual/poly prevalence of tobacco products during pregnancy and the characteristics related to smoking in pregnant smokers through a specific questionnaire containing questions related to sociodemographic characteristics, comorbidities, gestational history, smoking history, secondhand smoke exposure, nicotine dependence, motivation stage and use of alternative forms of tobacco.
RESULTS: Mean age was 26.9 ± 6.6 years, most had only elementary education and belonged to lower income economic groups. Twenty-five (19.7%) smoked conventional cigarettes only while 102 used conventional and alternative forms of tobacco products. Smoking pack-years was significantly lower in those only smoking conventional cigarettes than in dual/poly users. Proportion of patients with elevated degree of nicotine dependence was higher in conventional cigarettes users. On the other side, alcohol intake was higher in dual/poly smokers when compared to conventional cigarettes group. The alternative forms of smoking were associated with significantly higher occurrences of comorbidities as pulmonary, cardiovascular and cancer.
CONCLUSIONS FOR PRACTICE: The prevalence of alternative forms users of smoking products is high during pregnancy. These data reinforce the importance of a family approach towards smoking in pregnant women and education about the risks of alternative forms of tobacco.
