Impact of a Brief Perioperative Counselling Session on Parental Awareness of Passive Smoking in Paediatric Ambulatory Surgery: a Single-centre Observational Study

In a single-centre observational before-after study (n=31 parental smokers), a standardized ~15-minute tobacco-counselling intervention delivered during the paediatric ambulatory pathway significantly increased parental awareness of secondhand-smoke harms (median total score 34→46; p=0.0026). Item-level gains were greatest for perceived anaesthetic risk and misconceptions about tertiary/indirect exposure. Session acceptability was high, but self-reported behavioural change at 30 days was limited. The perioperative consultation is a feasible "teachable moment"; integration with visual aids, objective exposure measures, structured cessation referral and longitudinal follow-up should be considered to translate awareness into sustained exposure reduction.