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Tobacco Use, Secondhand Smoke Exposure During Pregnancy Threaten Health of Women, Children in Developing Nations
Posted: 03-07-2008 : RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK, N.C.
RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK, N.C. -– Tobacco use and secondhand smoke exposure during pregnancy are increasing health concerns in low and middle-income countries, according to a new study by researchers at the National Institutes of Health.
RTI International served as the data coordinating center for the study, which surveyed 8,000 pregnant women on three continents.
The study is the first to examine pregnant women's tobacco use, second-hand smoke exposure and attitudes toward women's tobacco use in multiple developing countries. The findings will appear in the April 2008 issue of the American Journal of Public Health, but are available online now.
The researchers conducted the study at ten sites in nine developing countries, including five sites in Latin America (Argentina, Uruguay, Ecuador, Brazil and Guatemala), two sites in Africa (Zambia and the Democratic Republic of the Congo) and three sites in Asia (two in India and one in Pakistan).
The survey looked at pregnant women's use of tobacco products, including cigarettes and smokeless tobacco, their perceptions of the social acceptability of tobacco use for women, and exposure to secondhand smoke experienced by them and their young children.
The researchers found as many as 18 percent of pregnant women currently smoked cigarettes, up to one-third used smokeless tobacco, and as many of half were regularly exposed to secondhand smoke in the nations studied. The researchers also found evidence that in some countries where pregnant women's tobacco use is currently low, rates of smoking during pregnancy could increase dramatically if barriers to women's tobacco use were removed.
"This study indicates that public health officials in developing nations should take immediate steps to prevent and reduce tobacco use and secondhand smoke exposure among pregnant women," said Duane Alexander, M.D., director of the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD). "This should include efforts to better understand the scope of the problem, so as to best direct public health interventions."
Pregnant women are a priority population for tobacco prevention efforts because tobacco use poses serious risks to fetal and maternal health.Smoking during pregnancy causes a number of problems, including preterm delivery, low birth weight and sudden infant death syndrome.
For the mother, cigarette use can lead to lung and other cancers, coronary heart disease, stroke, and chronic obstructive pulmonary diseases. Smokeless tobacco use can lead to oral and pancreatic cancers. Secondhand smoke causes lung cancer and heart disease in adults, and can lead to serious illnesses, such as bronchitis and pneumonia in infants and children.
"Where tobacco use rates are still low, we have the opportunity to avert an increase in tobacco use among women, especially pregnant women, in the developing world," said Linda Wright, M.D., scientific director of the Global Network, in NICHD’s Center for Research for Mothers and Children. "These data highlight the urgent need to adopt proven measures to prevent and control tobacco use -- both cigarettes and smokeless tobacco -- and secondhand smoke exposure of women and girls worldwide."
Funding for this research came from NICHD, National Cancer Institute, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Service's Office on Women's Health, and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.
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About RTI International
RTI International is one of the world's leading research institutes, dedicated to improving the human condition by turning knowledge into practice. With projects in more than 40 countries and a staff of more than 2,600, RTI offers innovative research and technical solutions to governments and businesses worldwide in the areas of health and pharmaceuticals, education and training, surveys and statistics, advanced technology, democratic governance, economic and social development, energy, and the environment. For more information, visit www.rti.org.
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