Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2022 Jan-Dec:13:21501319221093115.
doi: 10.1177/21501319221093115.

Tobacco Cessation Counseling and Medications Provided by Physicians to Tobacco Users During Primary Care Visits

Karen W Geletko  1 , Katelyn Graves  1 , Hanna Lateef  1 , Jeffrey Harman  1
Affiliations

Tobacco Cessation Counseling and Medications Provided by Physicians to Tobacco Users During Primary Care Visits

Karen W Geletko et al. J Prim Care Community Health. 2022 Jan-Dec.

Abstract

Introduction: The established guidelines for treating tobacco use and dependency is brief provider intervention to assist those willing to quit by providing access to medication and/or behavioral counseling. The purpose of the study is to determine the extent of cessation treatment offered by providers during primary care visits by patients who are current tobacco users, and to examine associations between patient factors and treatment received.

Methods: Using data from the 2015 to 2018 National Ambulatory Medical Care Survey (NAMCS), we examined tobacco cessation counseling and medications from 4590 visits by patients with current tobacco use. Separate multivariate logistic regressions were used to assess whether the odds of receiving tobacco cessation treatment varied by age, gender, race/ethnicity, and payment source.

Results: Of visits by current tobacco users, 18.4% included cessation counseling, 5.5% included cessation medication, and 22.1% included at least 1 type of treatment. Visits by patients with Medicare had 44% greater odds of including counseling (CI = 1%-205%) and treatment (OR = 1.44; 95% CI = 1.01-2.06). Visits classified as "other payment type" had 73% greater odds of including counseling (OR = 1.73; 95% CI = 1.05-2.84). Visits by women had 86% greater odds of including medication (CI = 17%-294%).

Conclusions: Tobacco cessation treatment is underutilized by providers during primary care visits. Further research is necessary to understand and address barriers to providing routine cessation assistance.

Keywords: primary care; racial disparities; smoking; tobacco; tobacco cessation.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Declaration of Conflicting Interests: The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

References

    1. Nollen NL, Ahluwalia JS, Sanderson Cox L, et al.. Assessment of racial differences in pharmacotherapy efficacy for smoking cessation: secondary analysis of the EAGLES randomized clinical trial. JAMA Netw Open. 2021;4(1):e2032053. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Flocke SA, Albert EL, Lewis SA, et al.. A cluster randomized trial evaluating a teachable moment communication process for tobacco cessation support. BMC Fam Pract. 2021;22(1):85. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Garcia MC, Faul M, Massetti G, et al.. Reducing potentially excess deaths from the five leading causes of death in the rural United States. MMWR Surveill Summ. 2017;66(2):1-7. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Fiore M, Jaén CR, Baker TB, et al.. Treating tobacco use and dependence: 2008 update U.S. Public Health Service Clinical Practice Guideline. Respir Care. 2008;53(9):1217-1222. - PubMed
    1. Stead LF, Buitrago D, Preciado N, Sanchez G, Hartmann-Boyce J, Lancaster T. Physician advice for smoking cessation. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2013;5:CD000165. - PMC - PubMed