Adolescent Smoking Cessation in Pediatric Primary Care

Adolescent Smoking Cessation in Pediatric Primary Care

This is a study of the effectiveness of adolescent smoking cessation interventions in pediatric primary care settings. Our specific aims are to:

1. Demonstrate providers' fidelity to guidelines for tobacco counseling and delivery of cessation interventions using practice system changes over time, (including systematic screening using charting tools and linkages to adjunct materials, including self-help handouts and Internet resources); and
2. Assess the impact of primary care provider counseling interventions on adolescent smoking cessation.

We hypothesize that adolescents who receive guidelines-based clinician-delivered smoking cessation counseling at primary care visits will be more likely to make quit attempts and more likely to remain abstinent (with better long term cessation rates) at 6 and 12 months after intervention, compared to those who do not receive interventions. In addition, we hypothesize that successful referral to stage-based self-help adjuncts, and more adjunct use will be associated with more quit attempts and better long-term cessation rates.

We will evaluate provider interventions in up to 120 pediatric practices, recruited from the American Academy of Pediatric's Pediatric Research in Office Settings (PROS) practice-based research network. Adolescents presenting for care will complete a short baseline survey prior to their doctor-visit, and a percentage of participants will be surveyed by phone 4-6 weeks after their visits to assess quit attempts and short-term cessation, and again at 6 and 12 months to evaluate long-term cessation outcomes. We will describe the patterns of smoking among youth, and explore how much receiving interventions affects motivation, quitting, abstinence/relapse attitudes, attitudes and use of adjunct strategies, and other smoking behaviors for adolescent smokers.

Inclusion Criteria:

• Adolescents presenting for regular well or sick visits at their pediatrician's office.
• Must live in a home or apartment with access to a telephone and mailing address.
• Must be able to speak English.
• Must be able and willing to give informed consent (if 18 years of age or older) or assent (if 14-17 years of age).
• In addition: parents/legal guardians of minors must be able and willing to give informed consent either in person or by phone in cases where the teen presents for care without a parent/legal guardian.

Exclusion Criteria:

• Adolescents who fall outside of the age range specified above.
• Unable to speak English.
• Do not have access to a telephone and/or mailing address.