Cigarette smoking knowledge, attitudes, and practices of patients and staff at a perinatal substance abuse treatment center

Chisolm, Margaret S.; Brigham, Emily P.; Lookatch, Samantha J.; Tuten, Michelle; Strain, Eric C.; Jones, Hendrée E.

doi:10.1016/j.jsat.2010.06.008

« PreviousJournal of Substance Abuse Treatment
Volume 39, Issue 3 , Pages 298-305, October 2010

Cigarette smoking knowledge, attitudes, and practices of patients and staff at a perinatal substance abuse treatment center

Margaret S. Chisolm, M.D.
- The Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA
- Corresponding author. 5300 Alpha Commons Drive, Alpha Commons Building, 4th floor, Baltimore, MD 21224, USA. Tel.: +1 410 550 9744; fax: +1 410 550 2552.
Emily P. Brigham, M.D.
- The Department of General Internal Medicine, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA
Samantha J. Lookatch, B.A.
- The Department of Psychology, Towson University, Baltimore, MD, USA
Michelle Tuten, M.S.W.
- The Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA
Eric C. Strain, M.D.
- The Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA
Hendrée E. Jones, Ph.D.
- The Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA

Received 23 February 2010; received in revised form 24 May 2010; accepted 22 June 2010. published online 30 July 2010.

Abstract

This study compares cigarette smoking knowledge, attitudes, and practices (S-KAP) of opioid- and other substance-dependent patients and their multidisciplinary staff at an outpatient perinatal substance abuse treatment center. Consenting patients (n = 95) and staff (n = 41) concurrently completed a modified form of the S-KAP survey instrument. Ninety-five percent of patients reported currently smoking, and half endorsed wanting “to quit smoking now.” This patient desire to quit smoking was significantly underrated by staff compared to the patients themselves (p = .028). Both patients and staff demonstrated suboptimal knowledge of smoking health risks, but 73% of patients reported trying to quit with past pregnancies to avoid harm to the fetus/baby. Although results show that patients could benefit from smoking cessation strategies centered on smoking's fetal/neonatal health risks, organizational interventions that focus on changing staff attitudes about patient desire to quit smoking may first need to be implemented.

Keywords: Smoking, Pregnancy, Knowledge, Attitudes, Practices