title: Perceived difficulty quitting predicts enrollment in a smoking-cessation program for patients with head and neck cancer.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To determine the predictors of participation in a smoking-cessation program among patients with head and neck cancer.
  
  
  METHODS
  This cross-sectional study is a substudy of a larger, randomized trial of patients with head and neck cancer that determined the predictors of smokers' participation in a cessation intervention.
  
  
  METHODS
  Otolaryngology clinics at three Veterans Affairs medical centers (Ann Arbor, MI, Gainesville, FL, and Dallas, TX), and the University of Michigan Hospital in Ann Arbor.
  
  
  METHODS
  286 patients who had smoked within six months of the screening survey were eligible for a smoking-cessation intervention.
  
  
  METHODS
  Descriptive statistics and bivariate and multivariate logistic regression were used to determine the independent predictors of smokers' participation in an intervention study.
  
  
  METHODS
  Perceived difficulty quitting (as a construct of self-efficacy), health behaviors (i.e., smoking and problem drinking), clinical characteristics (i.e., depression and cancer site and stage), and demographic variables.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Forty-eight percent of those eligible participated. High perceived difficulty quitting was the only statistically significant predictor of participation, whereas problem drinking, lower depressive symptoms, and laryngeal cancer site approached significance.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Special outreach may be needed to reach patients with head and neck cancer who are overly confident in quitting, problem drinkers, and patients with laryngeal cancer.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Oncology nurses are in an opportune position to assess patients' perceived difficulty quitting smoking and motivate them to enroll in cessation programs, ultimately improving quality of life, reducing risk of recurrence, and increasing survival for this population.
authors.affiliation: School of Nursing, Department of Otolaryngology, and Department of Psychiatry, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA. bump@umich.edu
authors.forename: Sonia A
authors.initials: SA
authors.lastname: Duffy
authors.forename: Angela L
authors.initials: AL
authors.lastname: Scheumann
authors.forename: Karen E
authors.initials: KE
authors.lastname: Fowler
authors.forename: Cynthia
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Darling-Fisher
authors.forename: Jeffrey E
authors.initials: JE
authors.lastname: Terrell
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000428:Alcohol Drinking / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000523:psychology; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D003863:Depression / Q000150:complications / Q000523:psychology; D005260:Female; D006258:Head and Neck Neoplasms / Q000209:etiology / Q000523:psychology*; D015438:Health Behavior; D006801:Humans; D016015:Logistic Models; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009042:Motivation; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D015404:Nursing Methodology Research; D009859:Oncology Nursing; D010342:Patient Acceptance of Health Care / Q000523:psychology* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D020377:Self Efficacy; D016540:Smoking Cessation / Q000523:psychology* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data