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Table 2 Maternal characteristics according to extent of smoking during pregnancy

From: Characteristics of women who continue smoking during pregnancy: a cross-sectional study of pregnant women and new mothers in 15 European countries

Maternal characteristics

Extent of smoking during pregnancy measured per day (n = 770) „

< 1 cigarette (n = 99)

1-5 cigarettes (n = 380)

6-10 cigarettes (n = 203)

≄ 11 cigarettes (n = 88)

p-value

n (%)

n (%)

n (%)

n (%)

 

Region of residency

     

Western Europe*

37 (37.4)

135 (35.5)

78 (38.4)

27 (30.7)

0.068

Northern Europe†

36 (36.4)

98 (25.8)

53 (26.1)

19 (21.6)

 

Eastern Europe§

26 (26.3)

147 (38.7)

72 (35.5)

42 (47.7)

 

Maternal age

     

≀ 20

8 (8.1)

25 (6.6)

17 (8.4)

1 (1.1)

0.293

21-30

61 (61.6)

227 (59.7)

117 (57.6)

53 (60.2)

 

31-40

29 (29.3)

118 (31.1)

68 (33.5)

31 (35.2)

 

> 40

1 (1.0)

10 (2.6)

1 (0.5)

3 (3.4)

 

Marital status

     

Married/cohabiting

88 (88.9)

324 (85.3)

180 (88.7)

75 (85.2)

0.588

Other

11 (11.1)

56 (14.7)

23 (11.3)

13 (14.8)

 

Highest education level

     

Less than high school

9 (9.1)

44 (11.6)

26 (12.8)

16 (18.2)

0.339

High school

39 (39.4)

178 (46.8)

93 (45.8)

37 (42.0)

 

More than high school

38 (38.4)

112 (29.5)

53 (26.1)

27 (30.7)

 

Other

13 (13.1)

46 (12.1)

31 (15.3)

8 (9.1)

 

Health literacy „„

     

Low

9 (9.3)

33 (8.8)

24 (12.1)

8 (9.4)

0.655

Medium

41 (42.3)

184 (49.3)

88 (44.2)

36 (42.4)

 

High

47 (48.5)

156 (41.8)

87 (43.7)

41 (48.2)

 

Working status

     

Employed (not as HCP)

64 (64.6)

210 (55.4)

100 (49.3)

44 (50.6)

0.109

HCP

11 (11.1)

40 (10.6)

16 (7.9)

5 (5.7)

 

Housewife

7 (7.1)

40 (10.6)

25 (12.3)

10 (11.5)

 

Other

17 (17.2)

89 (23.5)

62 (30.5)

28 (32.2)

 

First language

     

Same as in country of residency

91 (91.9)

361 (95.3)

196 (96.6)

84 (96.6)

0.314

Other

8 (8.1)

18 (4.7)

7 (3.4)

3 (3.4)

 

Previous children

     

No

58 (58.6)

196 (51.6)

95 (46.8)

36 (40.9)

0.071

Yes

41 (41.4)

184 (48.4)

108 (53.2)

52 (59.1)

 

Morbidity not incl. RD **

     

Yes

21 (21.2)

71 (18.7)

46 (22.7)

19 (21.6)

0.695

No

78 (78.8)

309 (81.3)

157 (77.3)

69 (78.4)

 

Respiratory disease ††

     

Yes

9 (9.1)

33 (8.7)

18 (8.9)

11 (12.5)

0.731

No

90 (90.9)

347 (91.3)

185 (91.1)

77 (87.5)

 

Planned pregnancy

     

Yes/ not completely unexpected

78 (78.8)

317 (83.4)

172 (84.7)

80 (90.9)

0.151

No, it was not planned

21 (21.2)

63 (16.6)

31 (15.3)

8 (9.1)

 

Folic acid use §§

     

Yes

84 (86.6)

322 (86.1)

167 (83.1)

68 (81.9)

0.632

No

13 (13.4)

52 (13.9)

34 (16.9)

15 (18.1)

 

Alcohol consumption during pregnancy

     

Yes

35 (35.4)

67 (17.7)

34 (16.9)

18 (20.9)

0.001

No

64 (64.6)

312 (82.3)

167 (83.1)

68 (79.1)

 
  1. HCP = health care provider; RD = respiratory disease.
  2. „One women (0.1%) did not provide information on extent of smoking in the sub-population of women smoking during pregnancy (n = 771).
  3. Numbers may not add up to total due to missing values. For Folic acid use and Alcohol consumption during pregnancy, the response ‘cannot remember’ was treated as a missing value. Missing values are less than 5% of the total.
  4. *Includes Austria, France, Italy, Switzerland, the Netherlands, United Kingdom.
  5. †Includes Finland, Iceland, Norway, Sweden.
  6. §Includes Croatia, Poland, Russia, Serbia, Slovenia.
  7. „„Measured by a self-assessment scale comprising three questions corresponding to the set of brief screening questions (SBSQ) developed to detect inadequate or marginal health literacy in clinical settings [26, 27].
  8. **Includes the presence of a chronic disease (hypothyroidism, rheumatic diseases (incl. rheumatoid arthritis, psoriatic arthritis), diabetes (type I or II), epilepsy, depression, anxiety, and cardiovascular diseases (incl. hypertension, high cholesterol, and heart diseases) or others (open-ended option)).
  9. ††Includes the presence of asthma, allergy, rhinitis, tonsillitis, sinusitis, or other respiratory tract conditions.
  10. §§Indicates folic acid use before and/or during pregnancy.