Promoting smoking cessation during pregnancy: A feasibility and pilot trial of a digital storytelling intervention delivered via text-messaging

TY - JOUR

T1 - Promoting smoking cessation during pregnancy

T2 - A feasibility and pilot trial of a digital storytelling intervention delivered via text-messaging

AU - King, Emma

AU - Cheyne, Helen

AU - Abhyankar, Purva

AU - Elders, Andrew

AU - Grindle, Mark

AU - Hapca, Adrian

AU - Jones, Claire

AU - O'Carroll, Ronan

AU - Steele, Mary

AU - Williams, Brian

N1 - Funding Information: This work was supported by the Scottish Government Chief Scientist Office [grant number HIPS/16/4 ]. Publisher Copyright: © 2022

PY - 2022/7

Y1 - 2022/7

N2 - Objective: Smoking during pregnancy causes risks to mother and infant health. We investigated the feasibility and likely success of SKIP-IT, a narrative and picture-based smoking cessation intervention delivered via text messages.Methods: A feasibility and pilot trial. We aimed to recruit 70 pregnant women who smoked, randomised to usual care alone, or usual care and the SKIP-IT intervention, between 12 weeks of pregnancy and 6 weeks post due-date. Outcomes assessed were recruitment, retention, acceptability of, and engagement with the intervention, smoking behaviour, intentions, perceived risk, and self-efficacy.Results: Of 312 women initially approached by smoking cessation services only 54 (17%) agreed to be contacted by the research team. Twenty were then either ineligible or uncontactable and 28 (82%) participated. Most women reported texts to be entertaining and helpful. The proportion of women not smoking at follow-up was lower in the intervention group, but numbers were too small to draw conclusions about effectiveness.Conclusion: The intervention was acceptable, but difficulty in making initial and follow-up contacts meant our methods were unfeasible for a larger trial.Practice implications: Digital Storytelling interventions could help women quit smoking, but further research is required to identify alternative methods for studies with pregnant women who smoke.

AB - Objective: Smoking during pregnancy causes risks to mother and infant health. We investigated the feasibility and likely success of SKIP-IT, a narrative and picture-based smoking cessation intervention delivered via text messages.Methods: A feasibility and pilot trial. We aimed to recruit 70 pregnant women who smoked, randomised to usual care alone, or usual care and the SKIP-IT intervention, between 12 weeks of pregnancy and 6 weeks post due-date. Outcomes assessed were recruitment, retention, acceptability of, and engagement with the intervention, smoking behaviour, intentions, perceived risk, and self-efficacy.Results: Of 312 women initially approached by smoking cessation services only 54 (17%) agreed to be contacted by the research team. Twenty were then either ineligible or uncontactable and 28 (82%) participated. Most women reported texts to be entertaining and helpful. The proportion of women not smoking at follow-up was lower in the intervention group, but numbers were too small to draw conclusions about effectiveness.Conclusion: The intervention was acceptable, but difficulty in making initial and follow-up contacts meant our methods were unfeasible for a larger trial.Practice implications: Digital Storytelling interventions could help women quit smoking, but further research is required to identify alternative methods for studies with pregnant women who smoke.

KW - Behaviour change

KW - Intervention

KW - Pregnancy

KW - Smoking

KW - Text-messaging

UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/85123106384

U2 - 10.1016/j.pec.2021.12.019

DO - 10.1016/j.pec.2021.12.019

M3 - Article

C2 - 35063311

SN - 0738-3991

VL - 105

SP - 2562

EP - 2572

JO - Patient Education and Counseling

JF - Patient Education and Counseling

IS - 07

ER -