Second Hand Smoke Exposure During Pregnancy: The Role of Intimate Partner Violence

1. RESULTS RESULTS BACKGROUND OBJECTIVES METHODS CONCLUSIONS Second Hand Smoke Exposure During Pregnancy: The Role of Intimate Partner Violence Beth A. Bailey, PhD Department of Family Medicine & Tennessee Intervention for Pregnant Smokers, East Tennessee State University, Johnson City, TN Support for this project was provided by Tennessee Governor Bredesen’s Office of Children’s Care Coordination • Second hand smoke exposure (SHS) has known health effects, and exposure during pregnancy has been linked to adverse birth outcomes • Many pregnant women are unable to prevent SHS exposure, especially from partners, and relationship issues may play a role Fig 1. IPV Differences by SHS Exposure Status Fig 2. Number of SHS Cigarettes/day by IPV Status • The purpose of the current study was to examine the potential role of intimate partner violence (IPV) in SHS exposure during pregnancy • Women who experienced various aspects of IPV were expected to be less likely to eliminate SHS during pregnancy, and to be exposed to greater amounts of SHS than those not reporting IPV • Participants were 220 pregnant non-smokers who lived with smoking partners • Women were recruited at entry to prenatal care when they completed various research tools, including the HITS and WAST to screen for IPV • SHS exposure status and the average number of cigarettes exposed to per day were assessed at the time of conception, at entry to prenatal care, at the beginning of the third trimester, and at delivery All differences in Figs 1 & 2 significant at p<.05 • Compared with women who never had or eliminated pregnancy SHS exposure, those with continued exposure were significantly more likely to report IPV • Aspects of IPV that differed among the groups included elements of both emotional and physical abuse • Those who reported emotional abuse were exposed to significantly more cigarettes per day than those who did not report abuse • Significant associations remained after control for potentially confounding background factors in regression analysis • The vast majority of participants were low income and White • Of the 220 participants: • 28% did not let their partner smoke around them • 42% let their partner smoke around them at entry into prenatal care but eliminated this exposure after intervention • 30% had continued SHS exposure to delivery • IPV is a significant risk factor for continued SHS exposure during pregnancy • Prenatal care providers should screen patients with SHS exposure for IPV and relationship issues, and should address this potential barrier when working with women to eliminate SHS exposure