AnnaKarin Johansson

Child health nurses' roles and attitudes in reducing children's tobacco smoke exposure

AIM To investigate and analyse the attitudes to tobacco prevention among child healthcare nurses, to study how tobacco preventive work is carried out at child healthcare centres today. To evaluate how the tobacco preventive work had changed in child health care since the Swedish National Board of Health and Welfares national evaluation in 1997. BACKGROUND Exposure to environmental tobacco smoke has adverse health effects. Interventions aiming at minimising environmental tobacco smoke have been developed and implemented at child healthcare centres in Sweden but the long-term effects of the interventions have not been studied. DESIGN Survey. METHODS In 2004, a postal questionnaire was sent to all nurses (n = 196) working at 92 child healthcare centres in two counties in south-eastern Sweden. The questionnaire was based on questions used by the National Board of Health and Welfare in their national evaluation in 1997 and individual semi-structured interviews performed for this study. RESULTS Almost all the nurses considered it very important to ask parents about their smoking habits (median 9.5, range 5.1-10.0). Collaboration with antenatal care had decreased since 1997. Nearly all the nurses mentioned difficulties in reaching fathers (70%), groups such as immigrant families (87%) and socially vulnerable families (94%) with the tobacco preventive programme. No nurses reported having special strategies to reach these groups. CONCLUSIONS Improvement of methods for tobacco prevention at child healthcare centres is called for, especially for vulnerable groups in society. However, the positive attitude among nurses found in this study forms a promising basis for successful interventions. RELEVANCE TO CLINICAL PRACTICE This study shows that launching national programmes for tobacco prevention is not sufficient to achieve sustainable work. Nurses working in child healthcare centres have an overall positive attitude to tobacco prevention but need continuous education and training in communication skills especially to reach social vulnerable groups. Regular feedback from systematic follow-ups might increase motivation for this work.

Tobacco Exposure and Diabetes-Related Autoantibodies in Children Results from the ABIS Study

Passive smoking has decreased in recent years (“increased hygiene”). Less environmental tobacco smoke (ETS) gives increased hygiene that, if the hygiene hypothesis is true, in turn might give more autoimmune diseases. The presence of auto antibodies is considered to be an early indicator of type 1 diabetes (T1D). Because tobacco exposure may influence the immune system, we analyzed the relation between passive smoking and development of autoantibodies. A subsample (n= 8794) of the children in the ABIS study was used for this analysis. The parents answered questionnaires on smoking from pregnancy and onwards, and blood samples from the children aged 2.5–3 years were analyzed for GADA and IA‐2A. Results showed that there was no significant difference in the prevalence of GADA or IA‐2A (>95 percentile) between tobacco‐exposed and nonexposed children. It was concluded that passive smoking does not seem to influence development of diabetes‐related autoantibodies early in life.

Does Having Children Affect Adult Smoking Prevalence and Behaviours at Home

BackgroundSmoking prevalence and smoking behaviours have changed in society and an increased awareness of the importance of protecting children from environmental tobacco smoke (ETS) is reported. The aim of this study was to find out if smoking prevalence and smoking behaviours were influenced by parenthood, and if differences in health-related quality of life differed between smoking and non-smoking parents.MethodsQuestionnaires were sent to a randomly selected sample, including 1735 men and women (20–44 years old), residing in the south-east of Sweden. Participation rate was 78%. Analyses were done to show differences between groups, and variables of importance for being a smoker and an indoor smoker.ResultsParenthood did not seem to be associated with lower smoking prevalence. Logistic regression models showed that smoking prevalence was significantly associated with education, gender and mental health. Smoking behaviour, as well as attitudes to passive smoking, seemed to be influenced by parenthood. Parents of dependent children (0–19 years old) smoked outdoors significantly more than adults without children (p < 0.01). Logistic regression showed that factors negatively associated with outdoor smoking included having immigrant status, and not having preschool children. Parents of preschool children found it significantly more important to keep the indoor environment smoke free than both parents with schoolchildren (p = 0.02) and adults without children (p < 0.001). Significant differences in self-perceived health-related quality of life indexes (SF-36) were seen between smokers and non-smokers.ConclusionAs smoking behaviour, but not smoking prevalence, seems to be influenced by parenthood, it is important to consider the effectiveness of commonly used precautions when childrens risk for ETS exposure is estimated.

Experiences of community health nurses regarding father participation in child health care.

Traditionally child health care (CHC) has been an arena where mothers and nurses meet, but in recent years fathers are entering CHC with increasing frequency. The aim of this study was to describe nurses’ experiences of fathers’ participation in CHC. Nine Swedish nurses working in CHC were interviewed and asked to give a description of their experiences from meetings with fathers in CHC. Phenomenology according to Giorgi was used for the analysis and the essence of the findings was that father participation was seen from the perspective of mother participation and was constantly compared to mother participation in CHC. The essence is explicated in the following themes: participation through activities; equal participation although diverse; influence of structures in society; and strengthening participation. Clinical implications include the need for creating a separate identity in CHC for fathers and more communication directed at fathers.

Parents’ attitudes to smoking and passive smoking and their experience of the tobacco preventive work in child health care

The purpose of this study was to describe parents’ attitudes to smoking and their experience of the tobacco preventive work in antenatal care and in Child Health Care (CHC) in Sweden. A population based survey in which 62 percent of 3000 randomly selected parents with 1- and 3-year-old children answered a questionnaire. Fifty-six percent stated that smoking was registered in the health record of the child yet no further discussion regarding passive smoking took place. The parents’ educational level and smoking status was related to the attitudes and experiences of the tobacco preventive work. The results indicated that the dialogue with parents regarding children and environmental tobacco smoke (ETS) exposure has to be redesigned and intensified in order to meet the needs of parents with different backgrounds.

Smoking in Children's Environment Test: a qualitative study of experiences of a new instrument applied in preventive work in child health care

BackgroundDespite knowledge of the adverse health effects of passive smoking, children are still being exposed. Childrens nurses play an important role in tobacco preventive work through dialogue with parents aimed at identifying how children can be protected from environmental tobacco smoke (ETS) exposure. The study describes the experiences of Child Health Care (CHC) nurses when using the validated instrument SiCET (Smoking in Childrens Environment Test) in dialogue with parents.MethodIn an intervention in CHC centres in south-eastern Sweden nurses were invited to use the SiCET. Eighteen nurses participated in focus group interviews. Transcripts were reviewed and their contents were coded into categories by three investigators using the method described for focus groups interviews.ResultsThe SiCET was used in dialogue with parents in tobacco preventive work and resulted in focused discussions on smoking and support for behavioural changes among parents. The instrument had both strengths and limitations. The nurses experienced that the SiCET facilitated dialogue with parents and gave a comprehensive view of the childs ETS exposure. This gave nurses the possibility of taking on a supportive role by offering parents long-term help in protecting their child from ETS exposure and in considering smoking cessation.ConclusionOur findings indicate that the SiCET supports nurses in their dialogue with parents on childrens ETS exposure at CHC. There is a need for more clinical use and evaluation of the SiCET to determine its usefulness in clinical practice under varying circumstances.

When does exposure of children to tobacco smoke become child abuse

We report an instance of a child aged 2.5 years, who is exposed to tobacco smoke in the home. The child is a participant in a prospective cohort study (ABIS; all babies in southeast Sweden) we are undertaking, on environmental factors affecting development of immune-mediated diseases in children.1Exposure to environmental tobacco smoke, known to affect present and future health of children,2 is one of the environmental factors being studied. Parents are asked, in questionnaires, if and how much they smoke. A subsample of smoking parents of 2–3 year-old children has been asked about their smoking behaviour at home—ie, what precautions they use to protect their child from tobacco smoke. To validate this questionnaire, we have analysed urine cotinine concentrations (the major urinary metabolite of nicotine) in specimens provided by children of this age. We recorded that the smoking behaviour of parents at home was significantly associated with cotinine concentrations of their child. Cotinine concentrations were adjusted for creatinine.3The child we report here had a cotinine/creatinine ratio of 800 μg cotinine/1 g creatinine, corresponding to active smoking of 3–5 cigarettes a day.4 The parents reported a joint consumption of 41–60 cigarettes a day. They said they smoke in the kitchen and living room, whereas bedrooms were reported to be smoke-free. The parents reported smoking at the dinner table once a day and in front of the television set several times a day. They also said they smoke near the kitchen fan several times a day and near an open door at least once a week. These comments from the parents indicate that, in their opinion, their child was well protected from exposure to environmental tobacco smoke, since they did not smoke in bedrooms and the windows were almost always open.Though nicotine and cotinine metabolism is independent probably due to genetic differences,5 the cotinine concentration of this child is remarkably high. If active smoking in adults causes lung cancer and other serious diseases, passive smoking from the age of 2.5 years (and probably younger) must be even more deleterious. Since a child at this age cannot, by his or her own will, avoid a smoky environment, we ask ourselves when exposure to tobacco smoke should be regarded as child abuse?We want to stress the fact that, although most parents are aware of the importance of protecting their children from tobacco smoke, and try in different ways, children can still be massively exposed to this toxic drug. Since to just forbid smoking might be ineffective, nurses and doctors should pay attention to smoking behaviour of smoking parents they meet. Until we know more about effective measures of protection, the recommendation should be never to smoke indoors in homes with children.

Parents’ experiences of participating in an intervention on tobacco prevention in Child Health Care

BackgroundChild health care is an important arena for tobacco prevention in Sweden. The aim of this study was to describe parents’ experiences from participating in a nursebased tobacco prevention intervention.MethodsEleven parents were interviewed using semi-structured interviews. The material was analysed in a qualitative content analysis process.ResultsThe analysis emerged four categories; Receiving support, Respectful treatment, Influence on smoking habits and Receiving information. The parents described how the CHC nurses treated them with support and respect. They described the importance of being treated with respect for their autonomy in their decisions about smoking. They also claimed that they had received little or no information about health consequences for children exposed to environmental tobacco smoke (ETS). The findings also indicate that both the questionnaire used and the urine-cotinine test had influenced parents’ smoking.ConclusionThe clinical implication is that CHC is an important arena for preventive work aiming to minimize children’s tobacco smoke exposure. CHC nurses can play an important role in tobacco prevention but should be more explicit in their communication with parents about tobacco issues. The SiCET was referred to as an eye-opener and can be useful in the MI dialogues nurses perform in order to support parents in their efforts to protect their children from ETS.

Two tales of cardiovascular risks-middle-aged women living in Sweden and Scotland : a cross-sectional comparative study.

Objectives To compare cardiovascular risk factors as well as rates of cardiovascular diseases in middle-aged women from urban areas in Scotland and Sweden. Design Comparative cross-sectional study. Setting Data from the general population in urban areas of Scotland and the general population in two major Swedish cities in southeast Sweden, south of Stockholm. Participants Comparable data of middle-aged women (40–65 years) from the Scottish Health Survey (n=6250) and the Swedish QWIN study (n=741) were merged together into a new dataset (n=6991 participants). Main outcome measure We compared middle-aged women in urban areas in Sweden and Scotland regarding risk factors for cardiovascular disease (CVD), CVD diagnosis, anthropometrics, psychological distress and lifestyle. Results In almost all measurements, there were significant differences between the countries, favouring the Swedish women. Scottish women demonstrated a higher frequency of alcohol consumption, smoking, obesity, low vegetable consumption, a sedentary lifestyle and also more psychological distress. For doctor-diagnosed coronary heart disease, there were also significant differences, with a higher prevalence among the Scottish women. Conclusions This is one of the first studies that clearly shows that Scottish middle-aged women are particularly affected by a worse profile of CVD risks. The profound differences in CVD risk and outcome frequency in the two populations are likely to have arisen from differences in the two groups of womens social, cultural, political and economic environments.