Passive smoking and pregnancy outcome : is there any harm?

الملخص EN

Background / Aim : adverse health effects of exposure to environmental tobacco smoke (ETS) among non-smokers have been studied occasionally in developing countries.

The aim of this work is to study the effects of exposure to ETS on the maternal and fetal outcome in pregnancy.

Patients and Methods : 282 nulliparous pregnant women with singleton pregnancy from Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Tanta University Hospital, were included in this prospective study.

A pre-designed structured questionnaire was used to record the details of exposure to ETS at home or at work place.

The maternal and fetal variables were compared among those who were exposed to ETS vs.

not exposed.

Unpaired Student t-test was used for the comparison of continuous variables and Fisher's exact test was used for categorical variables.

Multiple logistic regression analysis was performed after including all variables found to have significant differences on univariate analysis.

Results : Of the 282 women studied, 169 (59.9 %) reported exposure to ETS from the husband and other family members or at work place (Passive smokers), and 113 (40.1 %) did not have any exposure to tobacco smoke (Control group).

In the mothers exposed to ETS, there was a significantly higher incidence of pre-term birth (24.3 % vs.

15.9 % ; p < 0.05) and small-for-gestation babies (31.4 % vs.16.8 % ; p < 0.001) as compared to unexposed mothers.

The mean birth weight of the babies born to the mothers exposed to ETS was 230 g less than that of babies in the unexposed group (2550 ± 0.479 g vs.

2780 ± 0.563 g respectively, p = 0.016).The multiple logistic regression analyses showed that ETS exposure during pregnancy was significantly associated with a higher risk of small-for-gestation babies (OR 2.3 ; 95 % CI: 1.1-4.6).

Conclusion : in conclusion, this prospective study links passive smoking during pregnancy to more than two-fold higher risk of small-for-gestation baby even after adjusting for all possible confounders.

The incidence of preterm labor and anemia were, also, higher among pregnant women exposed to ETS.