The effectiveness of family counselling on reducing exposure to secondhand smoke at home among pregnant women in Iran

INTRODUCTION: Pregnant women are often exposed to secondhand smoke that affects them and their child. Our aim was to determine the effectiveness of family counselling using the BASNEF model on reducing exposure to secondhand smoke at home among pregnant women. METHODS: A quasi-experimental study was conducted on 103 pregnant women exposed to secondhand smoke. They were selected using a multi-stage cluster sampling method and allocated into intervention (50 people) and control (53 people) groups. Four family counseling sessions using the BASNEF model were held for the intervention group while the control group received routine care. The outcomes were measured before and at one month after the last session of counselling. RESULTS: In the timeframe before the intervention, the number of days in which there was reported exposure to secondhand smoke was 5.08 ± 1.1 in the intervention group, significantly decreasing to 3.5 ± 1.6 after the intervention (p<0.001). No significant change was observed in the control group (p=0.1). Also, the mean scores of all constructs of the BASNEF model increased significantly after the intervention compared to those of the control group (p<0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Family counseling had a positive effect on decreasing the exposure to secondhand smoke at home among a sample of pregnant women. The BASNEF model is useful for implementing educational care programs in these settings.