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Evaluation of a hospital-based tobacco treatment service: Outcomes and lessons learned.
J Hosp Med. 2010 Nov 24;
Authors: Faseru B, Turner M, Casey G, Ruder C, Befort CA, Ellerbeck EF, Richter KP
BACKGROUND:: The efficacy of smoking cessation interventions for hospital patients has been well described, but we know little regarding implementation and outcomes of real-world programs. OBJECTIVE:: To describe the services provided and outcomes of an academic medical center-based tobacco treatment service (UKanQuit) located in the Midwestern United States. METHOD:: This is a descriptive observational study. Both quantitative and qualitative data of all patients treated by UKanQuit over a 1-year period were analyzed. RESULTS:: Among 513 patients served, average interest in quitting was 7.9, standard deviation (SD) 2.9 on a scale of 0 to 10. More than 1 in 4 had been given an in-hospital medication to ameliorate withdrawal prior to seeing a counselor. Counselors recommended medication changes for 1 in 3 patients, helped 73% set a goal for quitting or reducing tobacco use, and fax referred 56% to quitlines. Six-month follow-up (response rate, 46%) found a 7-day abstinence rate of 32% among respondents for an intent-to-treat abstinence rate of 15%. Post-discharge, 74% made at least one serious quit attempt, 34% had used a quit smoking medication, but only 5% of those referred to the quitline reported using it. CONCLUSIONS:: In a hospital setting, interest in quitting is high among smokers who requested to see a tobacco counselor but administration of inpatient medications remains low. Many smokers are making unassisted quit attempts post-discharge because utilization of cessation medications and quitline counseling were low. Fax-referral to quitline may not, on its own, fulfill guideline recommendations for post-discharge follow-up. Journal of Hospital Medicine 2010;. © 2010 Society of Hospital Medicine.
PMID: 21108248 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]