PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Athina Diamanti
AU  - Victoria Vivilaki
AU  - Maria Tzeli
AU  - Paraskevi Katsaounou
TI  - The need for smoking cessation in pregnant women in Greece
AID  - 10.1183/13993003.congress-2016.PA4312
DP  - 2016 Sep 01
TA  - European Respiratory Journal
PG  - PA4312
VI  - 48
IP  - suppl 60
4099  - http://erj.ersjournals.com/content/48/suppl_60/PA4312.short
4100  - http://erj.ersjournals.com/content/48/suppl_60/PA4312.full
SO  - Eur Respir J2016 Sep 01; 48
AB  - Active and passive smoking during pregnancy is the most important preventable cause of unfavorable pregnancy outcomes.We evaluated exposure to tobacco smoke (active/passive) and quitting methods using a questionnaire and depression using EPDS (Greek validated version of Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale questionnaire) of pregnant.300 women were recruited from the perinatal care registers of 2 Public Maternity Departments in Athens during 2014. The questionnaires were administered on the 3rd postnatal day.48% of mothers were smokers beginning their pregnancy.Among them 83,3% tried to quit but less than half (21,7%) managed to. Thus, finally 73.7% reported being non-smokers during pregnancy, but none in a smoke-free environment. The ones that failed to quit (26.3%) mostly (55.8%) felt unable.There were statistically significant differences between smokers and non smokers in pregnancy and fetal problems (χ2=11.41; df=5; p<0.05), newborn problems (χ2=6.41;df=2;p<0.05) and partner's smoking status (χ2=14.62;df=1;p<0.001).The mean EPDS score for smokers was 9.72 (SD=6.28;Std Error Mean 0.52) and for quitters 8.04 (SD=5.17;Std Error Mean:0.41). Smokers had significantly more depressive symptoms than quitters [Levene's Test for equality of variances and homogeneity (F=43.059, P=0.0005) (t=2.403 df=298 Sig.(2-tailed)=0.0005].Information about risks of active/passive smoking were given from internet/books (37.1%), midwives/doctors (32,1%) and family/friends (30,7%).We conclude that it is essential both pregnant and their partners/families are informed on the health risks of active and passive smoking. Only smoke-free environments will sufficiently promote optimal perinatal health for the woman and her fetus/newborn.