Back to Annual Meeting Page		American Public Health Association 133rd Annual Meeting & Exposition December 10-14, 2005 Philadelphia, PA

Abstract #119616

Carol Southard, RN, MSN, Smoking Cessation Initiative Project Manager, American Dental Hygienists' Association, 444 North Michigan Avenue, Suite 3400, Chicago, IL 60611-3980, 312 440-8920, carols@adha.net

Tobacco use causes one in five U.S. deaths. It is the leading preventable source of illness and premature death in this country. Although smoking prevalence has decreased dramatically over the past 25 years, the number of people who currently smoke is still substantial given the health risks and the level of public awareness of those dangers. Almost one-fourth (22%) of all adult Americans, or about 46 million persons, smoke. More than 70% of smokers visit a health care setting annually and 30% of clients in any given practice smoke. Most smokers identify tobacco as harmful and want to stop smoking. Nearly 32 million people or 70% attempt to quit smoking each year. More than 90% of smokers who try to quit without treatment assistance will fail, most relapsing within one week. Research has shown that a combination of behavior and pharmacologic treatments for nicotine addiction is effective in helping smokers quit and increases the success rate approximately twofold over placebo treatments. Up to 70% of smokers would be more likely to quit if encouraged by their clinician. Estimates indicate that if health care professionals delivered stop-smoking messages routinely, at least 38 million smokers could be reached annually. This presentation offers information, skills and strategies necessary for effective smoking cessation intervention. A summary of the 2000 publication of the updated Clinical Practice Guideline for Treating Tobacco Use and Dependence by the USPHS is provided. An overview of the SCI's Ask. Advise. Refer. approach will also be included.

Learning Objectives: Upon completion of this presentation, the participant should be able to

• Describe trends and issues regarding smoking cessation,
• Utilize treatment options in the management of smoking cessation, and
• Explain current guidelines on smoking cessation intervention.

Keywords: Smoking Cessation, American Journal of Public Health

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

I wish to disclose that I have NO financial interests or other relationship with the manufactures of commercial products, suppliers of commercial services or commercial supporters.

Recorded presentation