Long-term outcomes from repeated smoking cessation assistance in routine primary care Journal Article uri icon
Overview
abstract
  • PURPOSE: To test the association between repeated clinical smoking cessation support and long-term cessation. DESIGN: Retrospective, observational cohort study using structured and free-text data from electronic health records. SETTING: Six diverse health systems in the United States. PARTICIPANTS: Patients aged >/=18 years who were smokers in 2007 and had >/=1 primary care visit in each of the following 4 years (N = 33 691). MEASURES: Primary exposure was a composite categorical variable (comprised of documentation of smoking cessation medication, counseling, or referral) classifying the proportions of visits for which patients received any cessation assistance (<25% (reference), 25%-49%, 50%-74%, and >/=75% of visits). The dependent variable was long-term quit (LTQ; yes/no), defined as no indication of being a current smoker for >/=365 days following a visit where nonsmoker or former smoker was indicated. ANALYSIS: Mixed effects logistic regression analysis adjusted for age, sex, race, and comorbidities, with robust standard error estimation to account for within site correlation. RESULTS: Overall, 20% of the cohort achieved LTQ status. Patients with >/=75% of visits with any assistance had almost 3 times the odds of achieving LTQ status compared to those with <25% visits with assistance (odds ratio = 2.84; 95% confidence interval: 1.50-5.37). Results were similar for specific assistance types. CONCLUSIONS: These findings provide support for the importance of repeated assistance at primary care visits to increase long-term smoking cessation.

  • Link to Article
    publication date
  • 2018
  • published in
    Research
    keywords
  • Cohort Studies
  • Medical Records Systems, Computerized
  • Observational Studies
  • Primary Health Care
  • Retrospective Studies
  • Smoking Cessation
  • Additional Document Info
    volume
  • 32
  • issue
  • 7