Assessing the feasibility of a clinical practice guideline for inpatient smoking cessation intervention

Although a great deal of effort has been devoted to the development of evidence-based practice guidelines at both the national and local levels, relatively few studies have explored translating these guidelines into clinical practice. The purpose of this study was to assess the feasibility of implementing an inpatient smoking cessation intervention, based on an externally developed clinical practice guideline, at a tertiary care medical center. All smokers who were referred to cardiac rehabilitation services for a 5-week period were eligible for referral to the smoking cessation program. Twenty patients participated in the bedside counseling program. The mean amount of time to deliver the intervention was 43.5 minutes. At 1 month, 14 (70%) of the participants reported continuous abstinence from tobacco. Estimated cost per patient for smoking cessation intervention was $51.14.