Abstract:
The Hazard of smoking directly affects to not only the smoker but also the
persons exposed to environmental tobacco smoke (ETS). Inevitably, societies can not be
free from smoking so there should be a smoke free environment made at the macro level,
and ETS avoidance at the micro level. This descriptive research aims to investigate
factors affecting the avoidance of ETS in pregnant women, by applying Pender’s Health
Promotion Model. The sample was 100 pregnant women visiting antenatalcare unit at
Khanom Hospital and 5 health centers in Khanom District, Nakorn Sri Thammarat from
July to October 2005. The sample was selected by purposive sampling according to
inclusion criteria; pregnant women who were not ex-smokers, did not smoke, and who
lived with their families. The research instruments were self-administered questionnaires.
Data were analyzed by using means, standard deviations, Pearson’s production moment
correlation and multiple regression.
The results showed that the overall avoidance of ETS in pregnant women was at
a low level. However, pregnant women had moderate levels of perceived benefits,
perceived barriers, and perceived self-efficacy in avoiding ETS. Multiple regression
revealed that no factors could explain the variance in avoiding ETS in pregnant woman. It
was found that the mean birth weight of babies of mothers living with smokers was
3,121 grams and those of the mothers living with nonsmoker was 3,296 grams, a
significant difference of t=2.229, p<0.05.However, confounding factors were not
controlled.
The results of the study suggest that avoiding of environmental tobacco smoke
should be emphasized especially in pregnant women together with promoting perceived
benefit of the avoiding behavior. Moreover, further research should be done in
heterogeneous samples with apropriate instruments for the Thai context.