SMOKING CESSATION

Computer and other electronic aids for smoking cessation

Computer and other electronic aids for smoking cessation

Background

International smoking cessation guidelines recommend that health professionals should consider the smoking rank of their patients and suggest smokers to stop. They should furthermore help a stop try by suggesting the use of pharmacotherapy (bupropion, nicotine replacement therapy), proposing short therapy, and devising follow-up visits when appropriate. According to the lately evolved Dutch guideline on the treatment of tobacco dependence, general practitioners (GPs) can play a significant function in decreasing smoking occurrence because about 75% of the community confers their GP not less than one time a year. Specialists, for example lung physicians and cardiologists, could well use hospitalization as an opening to boost their patients to halt smoking. Not only because the sickness or status producing in hospitalization may have been initiated or perplexing by smoking, highlighting the patient's individual vulnerability to the health risks of smoking, but furthermore because hospitalized smokers are for the time being housed in a smoke-free natural environment, proposing exclusive possibilities for cessation treatment.

Objectives

The objective of the study is to develop a thorough insight of computer and other electronic aids for smoking cessation.

Types of studies

In the Netherlands, couple of facts and numbers is accessible about perform of GPs, cardiologists, and lung physicians considering the treatment of tobacco dependence. We could only find one study, undertook nearly 20 years before, recounting the smoking cessation perform of Dutch GPs. Since then, new smoking cessation procedures have been evolved and some reconsiders into their effectiveness have been published.

Types of participants

From May 2002 through January 2003, we undertook questionnaire reviews encompassing a random experiment of 2000 GPs (approximately 27% of all listed GPs in the Netherlands), all 594 Dutch cardiologists, and all 375 Dutch lung physicians.

Search strategy for identification of studies

We undertook three questionnaire reviews amidst a random experiment of Dutch GPs, all Dutch cardiologists, and all Dutch lung physicians to consider and contrast the smoking cessation practices and smoking behaviour of these health professionals.

 

Methods of the review

Description of studies

Electronic documents with the titles and locations of listed GPs, cardiologists, and lung physicians were supplied by the Netherlands Institute of Health Services Research (NIVEL), the Dutch Society of Cardiology (NVVC), and the Dutch Thoracic Society (NVALT), respectively. We utilised a personalized introduction note interpreting the objectives of the study and marked addressed envelopes. Regarding the reviews amidst cardiologists and lung physicians, we frequently dispatched mailed reminders with an abridged type of the questionnaire to all non-responders in alignment to boost the answer rate. Regarding the review amidst GPs, we did not use mailed reminders. Instead, we dispatched a questionnaire encompassing only inquiries on smoking behaviour to a random experiment of 100 GPs from the non-response group. A gift voucher of EUR 5, (USD 6, 52) was dispatched along.

 

Methodological quality of included studies

Questionnaire development and content

The questionnaire comprised of three components and was pre-tested by epidemiologists and physicians. Its culmination time turned out to be 5-10 ...