Effectiveness of Nicotine Replacement Therapy in Reducing the Risk of Nicotine Exposure in Pregnant Minority Smokers

This study will compare the effectiveness of counseling plus use of a nicotine patch with counseling alone for helping pregnant women quit smoking. Smoking during pregnancy is the most preventable cause of fetal and newborn health problems such as low birth weight, fetal growth retardation, sudden infant death syndrome, spontaneous abortion, decreased lung function and premature delivery.

African-American and Hispanic women 18 years of age or older, smoke cigarettes, and live in the District of Columbia metropolitan area may be eligible for this study. Candidates are recruited from the George Washington University and Providence Hospital prenatal health clinics. They are screened with a review of their medical records and a survey that includes questions about their age, residency, race and ethnicity, educational level and employment status, number of weeks pregnant, and exposure to cigarette smoke and other types of tobacco.

Participants answer questions about their smoking behavior, then receive a 10-minute counseling session and watch a videotape about quitting smoking. Women who are not able to quit smoking in 1 week are then randomly assigned to one of two treatment groups. One group continues to receive counseling sessions during the remainder of their pregnancy; the second group receives nicotine patches as well as the counseling sessions. In addition, all participants watch a video about smoking and receive a guide to help them quit. Women who receive the patches must stop smoking completely. If they cannot stop immediately, their participation in the study ends. The behavioral counseling sessions for all the women are a series of conversations between the women and a trained counselor to help the woman through the process of quitting.

Participants are followed during the study with six clinic visits and three telephone calls. During the first visit, the women answer a series of questions about their smoking habits and health concerns. A portion of the urine sample they provide during their routine prenatal visit is used by this study to assess their cotinine (a breakdown product of nicotine) levels. Saliva and breath samples to test for cotinine and carbon monoxide levels are collected at each visit. Saliva is collected by brushing the inside of the cheek with a cotton swab, and breath samples are collected by having the woman blow into a tube connected to a machine. Participants are evaluated four times during the study with questions about their smoking behavior.

With the women's permission, their medical records, health, and treatments during pregnancy are reviewed. At the end of the pregnancy, the infant's weight and health are also reviewed.