Abstract
Introduction: The aim was to test the effectiveness of a motivational interviewing (MI) intervention with repeated contacts and feedback about the child's urine cotinine levels to eliminate or reduce passive smoke (PS) exposure in children with a high risk of asthma.
Methods :The study is a 1 year randomized controlled trial. A sample of 58 families with children 0-13 years with a high risk of asthma and PS exposure at home were randomized to either an intervention group receiving 6 counselling sessions every month or a control group receiving only measurements. Primary outcome: percentage of families eliminating PS exposure (parental report verified and not-verified with urine cotinine concentration of the child < 10 μg/l) in children at the end of the intervention after 6 months of study.
Results: Significant group difference were observed in favour of the intervention group after 6 months of study (p<0.05 for the Chi-square test for both verified and not-verified parental report of no PS exposure, also for the not-verified parental report using Generalized Linear Mixed-effects Models (GLMM test)). The intervention was also effective after 9 months of study, but not after 3 and 12 months of study. The reported number of cigarettes smoked in the presence of the child indoors during the whole study period was lower in the intervention compared to the control group (p<0.01).
Conclusion : Eliminating or reducing PS exposure in children was higher in the intervention group than in the control group at 6 and 9 months of study. MI combined with feedback of the child's urine cotinine concentration is an effective strategy to eliminate or reduce PS exposure in children.
- © 2014 ERS