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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.
Windsor et al. (Mon,) studied this question.