Physician and dentist tobacco use counseling and adolescent smoking behavior: results from the 2000 National Youth Tobacco Survey.
OBJECTIVE
The present study describes patterns of tobacco use counseling among physicians and dentists as reported by adolescents and determines the association between provider advice to quit and cessation activities among current smokers.


METHODS
Data were analyzed from the 2000 National Youth Tobacco Survey, an anonymous, self-administered, school-based survey. The National Youth Tobacco Survey was administered to a nationally representative sample of 35828 students in grades 6 to 12 in 324 schools.


RESULTS
Thirty-three percent of adolescents who visited a physician or a dentist in the past year reported that a physician counseled them about the dangers of tobacco use, and 20% reported that a dentist provided a similar message. Among students who smoked in the past year, 16.4% received advice to quit from a physician and 11.6% received advice to quit from a dentist. Physician or dentist advice to quit was correlated with 1 or more quit attempts in the past 12 months.


CONCLUSIONS
On the basis of adolescent reports, physician and dentist practice patterns remain well below recommended guidelines. Results suggest that provider advice to quit is associated with cessation activity. Additional studies are needed to confirm whether the low prevalence of brief provider tobacco use counseling is a missed opportunity to affect adolescent smoking behavior.
Shelley
Donna
D
Sociomedical Sciences, Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health, 722 W 168th St, 11th Floor, New York, New York 10032, USA. drs26@columbia.edu.
Cantrell
Jennifer
J
Faulkner
Dorothy
D
Haviland
Lyndon
L
Healton
Cheryl
C
Messeri
Peter
P
D000293:Adolescent; D002648:Child; D003376:Counseling / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D003625:Data Collection; D003815:Dentists; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D016015:Logistic Models; D008297:Male; D010353:Patient Education as Topic / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D010820:Physicians; D010818:Practice Patterns, Physicians' / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D012907:Smoking; D016540:Smoking Cessation; D014481:United States