Tobacco-related medical education and physician interventions with parents who smoke: Survey of Canadian family physicians and pediatricians.
OBJECTIVE
To examine the relationship between physicians' tobacco-related medical training and physicians' confidence in their tobacco-related skills and smoking-related interventions with parents of child patients.


METHODS
Mailed survey.


METHODS
Canada.


METHODS
The survey was mailed to 800 family physicians and 800 pediatricians across Canada, with a corrected response rate of 65% (N = 900).


METHODS
Physicians' self-reported tobacco-related education, knowledge, and skills, as well as smoking-related interventions with parents of child patients. Cochran-Mantel-Haenszel chi(2) tests were used to examine relationships between variables, controlling for tobacco-control involvement and physician specialty. Data analysis was conducted in 2008.


RESULTS
Physicians reporting tobacco-related medical education were more likely to report being "very confident" in advising parents about the effects of smoking and the use of a variety of cessation strategies (P < .05). Furthermore, physicians with tobacco-related training were more likely to help parents of child patients quit smoking whether or not the children had respiratory problems (P < .05). Physicians with continuing medical education in this area were more likely to report confidence in their tobacco-related skills and to practise more smoking-related interventions than physicians with other forms of training.


CONCLUSIONS
There is a strong relationship between medical education and physicians' confidence and practices in protecting children from secondhand smoke. Physicians with continuing medical education training are more confident in their tobacco-related skills and are more likely to practise smoking-related interventions than physicians with other tobacco-related training.
Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences, Toronto, ON M4N 3M5. charles.victor@ices.on.ca
J Charles
JC
Victor
Joan M
JM
Brewster
Roberta
R
Ferrence
Mary Jane
MJ
Ashley
Joanna E
JE
Cohen
Peter
P
Selby
D000328:Adult; D002170:Canada; D002648:Child; D002983:Clinical Competence; D003376:Counseling; D003625:Data Collection; D004502:Education, Medical, Continuing; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006801:Humans; D010290:Parents; D010372:Pediatrics / Q000193:education; D010821:Physicians, Family / Q000193:education; D011368:Professional-Family Relations; D012307:Risk Factors; D012907:Smoking / Q000009:adverse effects; D016540:Smoking Cessation; D000074606:Smoking Prevention; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires