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Prevalence and predictors of smoking and quitting during pregnancy in Serbia: results of a nationally representative survey

  • Original Article
  • Published:
International Journal of Public Health

Abstract

Objectives

Middle- and low-income countries rarely have national surveillance data on smoking in pregnancy. This nationwide population-representative survey investigated pre- and post-partum smoking and their predictors in Serbia.

Methods

Using stratified two-stage random cluster sampling, 2,721 women in 66 health care centres were interviewed at 3 and 6 months post-partum.

Results

37.2% of women smoked at some point in pregnancy (average 8.8 cigarettes/per day). Smoking at pregnancy onset and during pregnancy was associated with smoking by others in the home and lower education and family socio-economic status. Almost a quarter of women (23.2%) who quit smoking during pregnancy did not relapse 6 months post-partum. Older women, primiparae, university students and white-collar workers were more likely to successfully quit smoking. More than a half of women were exposed to SHS in their homes (57.6%) and 84.6% allowed smoking in their homes.

Conclusion

Smoking during pregnancy in Serbia was two- to threefold higher than in the most affluent western countries. Target groups for action are women with lower education and socio-economic status, as well as health professionals and family members who smoke.

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Acknowledgments

This study was supported by the Government of Canada through the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA), realized by the Canadian Public Health Association (CPHA), and conducted by the Public Health Association of Serbia. We would like to thank the patronage nurses and post-natal women from Serbia who collaborated enthusiastically in this survey. Ms. Anđelka Kotević, Senior Nurse, exceptionally organised and coordinated patronage nurses, and Inga Mijailović, Vladana Đurić, Gordana Lazić, and Aleksandra Vučković timely gathered, entered and checked up data. We received valuable support in conducting the study from Mr. James Chauvin and Ms. Sherryl Smith from the CPHA.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Serbian Institute of Occupational Health “Dr. Dragomir Karajovic”, Deligradska 29, 11000, Belgrade, Serbia

    Srmena Krstev

  2. Public Health Association of Serbia, Belgrade, Serbia

    Srmena Krstev, Jelena Marinković & Snežana Simić

  3. Institute of Medical Statistics and Informatics, School of Medicine, University of Belgrade, Belgrade, Serbia

    Jelena Marinković & Nikola Kocev

  4. Institute of Social Medicine, School of Medicine, University of Belgrade, Belgrade, Serbia

    Snežana Simić

  5. Dalla Lana School of Public Health, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada

    Susan J. Bondy

  6. Canadian Public Health Association, Canadian International Development Agency, Quebec, Canada

    Susan J. Bondy

Authors
  1. Srmena Krstev
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  2. Jelena Marinković
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  3. Snežana Simić
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  4. Nikola Kocev
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  5. Susan J. Bondy
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Correspondence to Srmena Krstev.

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Krstev, S., Marinković, J., Simić, S. et al. Prevalence and predictors of smoking and quitting during pregnancy in Serbia: results of a nationally representative survey. Int J Public Health 57, 875–883 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00038-011-0301-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00038-011-0301-5

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