Perceived consequences among pregnant and non-pregnant women of continuing or ceasing to smoke

ObjectiveTo examine the perception of risk of smoking-related psychological and social outcomes, and the effect of pregnancy and intention to stop smoking on the perceived risk.MethodsEighty women were asked to make judgments about the probability of outcomes for smoking-related consequences. Four subgroups were created using the variables of pregnancy (pregnant versus not pregnant) and cessation of smoking (intention to stop versus no intention to stop). Judgments were based on the decision to stop and not stop smoking.ResultIntention to stop smoking affected the estimated probabilities for the occurrence of consequences for both continuing and stopping smoking, whereas pregnancy did not affect the estimated probabilities. The estimated effect of stopping smoking was statistically significant.ConclusionHealth messages about smoking for all population groups should consider both future risk of mortality and immediate quality-of-life effects of smoking.