Physician awareness and referral to national smoking cessation quitlines and web-based resources

Abstract

Dear Editor, We are writing to describe current levels of awareness of and
referral to national quitlines, and aWeb-based cessation service among primary care physicians. Smokers who use telephone counseling are more likely to achieve long-term cessation compared to those who do not [1]. Quitlines can assist in forming a quit plan, offer nicotine replacement therapy, and schedule follow-up contact [2].We analyzed data from the
National Survey of Primary Care Physicians’ Recommendations and Practice for Breast, Cervical, Colorectal, and Lung Cancer Screening [3] to assess awareness and referral to the National Network of Tobacco Cessation Quitlines’ 1-800-QUIT-NOW, the National Cancer Institute’s quitline 1-877-
44U-QUIT, and the National Cancer Institute and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Web site smokefree.gov...