The Health in Pregnancy (HIP) Study

Regular prenatal visits offer opportunities to deliver and reinforce risk reduction messages regarding tobacco, alcohol, or illicit drug use and domestic violence. Because health care providers may lack the time, comfort, or skills to screen or counsel their patients about these risks, innovative approaches are needed. Computer programs are increasingly used to assess risky behaviors and deliver individualized preventive interventions. We have designed a randomized, controlled trial to determine if a brief, interactive, multimedia intervention delivered on a laptop computer and integrated into routine prenatal care can reduce pregnant women's smoking, drinking, drug use, and experiences of domestic violence compared to usual care. To capitalize on health care providers' credibility, the multimedia intervention is delivered by an actor-portrayed "Video Doctor" programmed to respond to participant input, simulating a live interview. Pregnant women who receive prenatal care at one of the study sites and who consent to participate will be screened for substance use and domestic violence prior to a regularly scheduled medical appointment. Women who report one or more of these risks will be randomly assigned to the Intervention or Control group according to a blocked, stratified randomization plan. Participants in the Intervention group will receive the Health in Pregnancy (HIP) intervention, consisting of brief, multimedia counseling presented by a "Video Doctor" and an educational worksheet. Their provider will receive a "Cueing Sheet," which offers a brief summary of the patient's risk profile and suggests counseling statements. Components of the multimedia program will be tailored to each participant's risk profile and readiness to change. Women assigned to the Control group will complete a risk assessment than receive the usual care offered by the health care settings. Both Intervention and Control participants will complete two follow-up risk assessments at consecutive medical visits approximately four weeks apart. At the first follow-up session, Intervention participants will also receive "booster" risk reduction messages from teh video doctor. To determine the effect of the HIP program on patient-provider discussions, both Intervention and Control participants will complete a post-interview after their medical appointment. The post-interview will also assess the acceptability of the HIP program by participants. To determine the effect of teh program on participants' risky behaviors we will compare self-reported discussions, behavior change, and readiness to change at baseline and at a third session with the computer program. We expect that participants in the Intervention group will show significant reductions in risky behaviors compared to the Control group.