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

Abstract

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.

Citation

King, E., Cheyne, H., Abhyankar, P., Elders, A., Grindle, M., Hapca, A., …Williams, B. (2022). Promoting smoking cessation during pregnancy: A feasibility and pilot trial of a digital storytelling intervention delivered via text‐messaging. Patient Education and Counseling, 105(7), 2562-2572. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pec.2021.12.019

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Dec 30, 2021
• Online Publication Date: Jan 1, 2022
• Publication Date: 2022-07
• Deposit Date: Aug 10, 2022
• Publicly Available Date: Aug 10, 2022
• Journal: Patient Education and Counseling
• Print ISSN: 0738-3991
• Publisher: Elsevier
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 105
• Issue: 7
• Pages: 2562-2572
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pec.2021.12.019
• Keywords: Smoking, Pregnancy, Behaviour change, Intervention, Text-messaging
• Public URL: http://researchrepository.napier.ac.uk/Output/2895632