Smokers' interest in quitting and services received: using practice information to plan quality improvement and policy for smoking cessation.
Given the prevalence of smoking, its impact, and the benefits of cessation, helping smokers quit should be a top priority for health care organizations. To restructure health care delivery and guide future policy, the authors used baseline survey data from an 18-site Veterans Health Administration group randomized trial to assess the level of interest in quitting smoking for a practice population and determine what smoking cessation services they reported receiving. Among 1941 current smokers, 55% did not intend to quit in the next 6 months, and the remainder intended to quit in the next month (13%) to 6 months (32%). Forty-five percent reported a quit attempt in the prior year. While nearly two thirds of smokers reported being counseled about cessation within the past year, only 29% were referred to a cessation program, and 25% received a prescription for nicotine patches. Tobacco control efforts within this population should focus on increasing the rate of assisting patients with quitting.
Sherman
Scott E
SE
Veterans Health Administration Health Services Research and Development Service Center of Excellence for the Study of Healthcare Provider Behavior, VA Greater Los Angeles Healthcare System, Sepulveda, California, USA. ssherman@ucla.edu
Yano
Elizabeth M
EM
Lanto
Andy B
AB
Simon
Barbara F
BF
Rubenstein
Lisa V
LV
D000368:Aged; D003376:Counseling; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D016134:Organizational Policy; D011320:Primary Health Care / Q000592:standards*; D016540:Smoking Cessation / Q000523:psychology*; D014481:United States