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Pregnant smokers: more heeding doctors’ advice
An evaluation of the impact made by 5A’s cessation programming revealed more positive results. The sample included patients who sought prenatal care at clinics or primary care practices owned or operated by Alliance sub-grantees in Northwest Ohio.

5A’s Program Findings
- Down:average number days mothers smoked in the past 30 days.
- Down: average number of cigarettes smoked per day during the last month.
- Up: those making serious attempts to quit smoking in the past 12 months.
- Up: physician involvement in smoking cessation with pregnant patients.

Especially encouraging was patient perception of six items related to physician interaction. Post-testing, a higher proportion of patients reported that their doctor 1) asked about smoking status, 2) explained the health effects of smoking, 3) had them set a date to quit, 4) discussed how to quit smoking, 5) offered drugs or patches to help them quit, and 6) asked them to come back for a smoking cessation follow-up visit.

Program parameters: The mean age for the respondents was 24.1 years. Over 50% lived with someone who smoked; 57% were white; 60% were high school graduates or had some college credits; 52% never married.

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