Wakefield 2002.
Methods | Country: Australia Setting: recruited from paediatric outpatient clinics, intervention by mail and phone CT: alternation by week of attendance at clinic | |
Participants | 292 smoking parents of children aged 1 to 11 with asthma | |
Interventions | At baseline, urine analysed for cotinine:creatinine ratio Intervention: parents sent a letter signed by the study co‐ordinator to explain child's baseline cotinine:creatinine ratio, and to encourage banning smoking at home. Two booklets enclosed: 1 explained the effects of ETS on children and gave advice to parents on its restriction; the other concerned quitting. The index parent was contacted by telephone 1 week and 1 month later for advice and encouragement. Control: usual advice about smoking from doctors and nurses | |
Outcomes |
At 6 months: • Smoking bans at home Secondary study outcomes: • Parent reports of bans on smoking in car • CPD • Child urinary cotinine • Parent‐reported cessation |
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Type of intervention | Child with health problems (ill‐child health care) | |
Notes | Retention 264/292 (90.4%) | |
Risk of bias | ||
Bias | Authors' judgement | Support for judgement |
Random sequence generation (selection bias) | High risk | "Families were allocated by alternate week to either an intervention or control group." |
Allocation concealment (selection bias) | High risk | No information was provided, but method of sequence generation makes allocation concealment highly unlikely. |
Incomplete outcome data (attrition bias) All outcomes | Low risk | Similar rates lost to follow‐up in both groups (10.5% intervention, 8.7% control) |
Blinding of outcome assessment (detection bias) All outcomes | Low risk | Children's cotinine levels used to validate self‐report of smoking bans |