Offering pregnant smokers a financial incentive to stop smoking cigarettes was found to be “highly effective”  a randomised controlled trial in the UK has found.

In the study, published in the British Medical Journal, 944 women (mean age 27.9) were randomised to receive either standard stop smoking services, or usual support plus up to £400 (AU$715) of LoveToShop financial voucher incentives for engaging with stop smoking services or to stop smoking during pregnancy.

Participants were first offered a £50 (AU$90) voucher to engage with smoking cessation services and set a stop smoking date, followed by a further £50 voucher if not smoking after four weeks. If still abstinent after four weeks, participants were then offered a £100 (AU$179) voucher for being smoke-free after 12 weeks, and finally all were offered a £200 (AU$358) voucher if smoke-free between 34 and 38 weeks’ gestation.

Results showed that a significant larger proportion of (27% of 147) participants in the intervention group stopped smoking compared to in the control group (12% of 470).

Also, “significantly more engagement with stop smoking services and carbon monoxide verified non-smoking at four weeks after stop smoking date was seen with incentives (P<0.001)”, according to the paper.

However, most people who stopped smoking in both groups relapsed after the birth of their baby.

The researchers concluded that the offer of up to £400 (AU$715) in vouchers as an incentive to stop smoking during pregnancy was “highly effective” and backed new NICE guidelines which recommend such incentives in this setting.

The study showed that financial incentives “more than double the smoking cessation rate and can be integrated without substantially changing current UK stop smoking services,” they said, and noted that findings “should increase acceptability of using financial incentives”.

Expanding the incentive offer to 12 months post birth is now being investigated to determine whether this could prevent smoking relapse, they noted.