Practitioners' views on nicotine replacement therapy in pregnancy during lapse and for harm reduction: A qualitative study

Thomson, Ross, McDaid, Lisa ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5032-2380, Emery, Joanne ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8915-7033, Phillips, Lucy, Naughton, Felix, Cooper, Sue, Dyas, Jane and Coleman, Tim (2019) Practitioners' views on nicotine replacement therapy in pregnancy during lapse and for harm reduction: A qualitative study. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 16 (23). ISSN 1660-4601

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Abstract

Many countries, including the UK, recommend nicotine replacement therapy (NRT) for smoking cessation during pregnancy. However, adherence to NRT is generally low, smoking lapse or relapse is common and using NRT to reduce the harm from the number of cigarettes smoked is only advocated in non-pregnant smokers. Two focus groups were conducted with 13 professionals involved in antenatal stop smoking services (SSS). The data were analysed thematically. Two themes were extracted that describe health professionals' attitudes towards using NRT either during lapses or to reduce smoking in women who cannot quit (harm reduction). These are presented around a social-ecological framework describing three hierarchical levels of influence within smoking cessation support: (1) Organizational: providing NRT during lapses could be expensive for SSS though harm reduction could result in services helping a wider range of clients. (2) Interpersonal: participants felt using NRT for harm reduction was not compatible with cessation-orientated messages practitioners conveyed to clients. (3) Individual: practitioners' advice regarding using NRT during smoking lapses varied; many were generally uncomfortable about concurrent smoking and NRT use and had strong reservations about recommending NRT when smoking during all but the briefest lapses. Further evidence is required to guide policy and practice.

Item Type: Article
Additional Information: Funding: This project was funded through a National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Programme for Applied Research (Programme number RP-PG-0615-20003).
Uncontrolled Keywords: harm reduction,nicotine replacement therapy,nrt,pregnancy,smoking cessation,stop smoking services,public health, environmental and occupational health,health, toxicology and mutagenesis,sdg 3 - good health and well-being ,/dk/atira/pure/subjectarea/asjc/2700/2739
Faculty \ School: Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences > School of Health Sciences
UEA Research Groups: Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences > Research Groups > Behavioural and Implementation Science
Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences > Research Groups > Health Promotion
Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences > Research Centres > Lifespan Health
Related URLs:
Depositing User: LivePure Connector
Date Deposited: 21 Dec 2019 03:18
Last Modified: 19 Oct 2023 02:36
URI: https://ueaeprints.uea.ac.uk/id/eprint/73429
DOI: 10.3390/ijerph16234791

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