Measurement of nicotine intake in pregnant women —associations to changes in blood cell count

Self-reported information about smoking is imprecise and subject to bias, with accuracy varying according to circumstances. Biochemical assessment gives much clearer indications of the effects of tobacco intake on physiological parameters. As part of a randomized controlled trial, a new point-of-car...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Nicotine & tobacco research 2001-05, Vol.3 (2), p.119-122
Main Authors: Cope, Graham F., Nayyar, Pamela, Holder, Roger
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adult
Biological and medical sciences
Biomarkers
Blood Chemical Analysis
Female
Humans
Maternal Behavior - psychology
Medical sciences
Nicotine - blood
Nicotine - urine
Pregnancy
Smoking - epidemiology
Smoking Prevention
Surveys and Questionnaires
Tobacco Use Disorder - blood
Tobacco Use Disorder - epidemiology
Tobacco Use Disorder - prevention & control
Tobacco, tobacco smoking
Toxicology
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Summary:Self-reported information about smoking is imprecise and subject to bias, with accuracy varying according to circumstances. Biochemical assessment gives much clearer indications of the effects of tobacco intake on physiological parameters. As part of a randomized controlled trial, a new point-of-care test for smoking was used as a tool to reduce smoking in pregnancy. Measurements of nicotine metabolites in urine were related to a physiological effect of smoking, notably changes to blood parameters, assessed as a routine part of antenatal care. One hundred and eighty-seven pregnant women attending outpatient antenatal care were initially questioned by a midwife about smoking habits and later questioned by the investigators, during which the test was performed and the results relayed back to the patient. Self-reported smoking habit and cigarette consumption, either reported to midwives or the investigators, were shown to be poor indicators of the effects of smoking on blood parameters. The biochemical assessment of nicotine intake was significantly related to white blood count, haemoglobin concentration, haematocrit, mean cell volume, and mean cell haemoglobin. Red cell count, mean cell haemoglobin concentration, and platelet count were unrelated to nicotine metabolite measurements. We concluded that the new test was a reliable measure of nicotine intake in pregnancy and the results correlated with smoking-related changes to haematological parameters.
ISSN:1462-2203
1469-994X
DOI:10.1080/14622200110042645