Nicotine & tobacco research : official journal of the Society for Research on Nicotine and Tobacco
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Randomized Controlled Trial Multicenter Study
Nicotine dependence and biochemical exposure measures in the second trimester of pregnancy.
The Heaviness of Smoking Index (HSI) is validated to measure nicotine dependence in nonpregnant smokers, and in these smokers, mean salivary and serum cotinine levels are related by a ratio of 1.25. However, as nicotine metabolism increases during gestation, these findings may differ in pregnancy. We investigated the validity of HSI in pregnancy by comparing this with 3 biochemical measures; in a search for a less-invasive cotinine measure in pregnancy, we also explored the relationship between mean blood and salivary cotinine levels. ⋯ Correlations between HSI and biochemical measures in pregnancy were comparable with those obtained outside pregnancy, suggesting that HSI has similar validity in pregnant smokers. Salivary and blood cotinine levels are roughly equivalent in pregnant smokers.