Pediatric smoking prevention interventions delivered by care providers: a systematic review

To conduct a systematic review of randomized controlled trials of smoking prevention interventions for youth delivered via medical or dental providers' offices.

Online bibliographic databases were searched as of July 2002, and reference lists from review articles and the selected articles were also reviewed for potential studies. The methodology and findings of all retrieved articles were critically evaluated. Data were extracted from each article regarding study methods, intervention studied, outcomes measured, and results.

The literature search returned 81 abstracts from MEDLINE and 49 from Cochrane Clinical Trials Registry (CCTR); of these, four articles met the inclusion criteria. Included were two studies conducted in primary care, and one each in dental and orthodontic offices. Only one study demonstrated a significant effect on smoking initiation; in that study, 5.1% of the intervention group and 7.8% of the control group reported smoking at 12-month follow-up (odds ratio= 0.63; 95% confidence interval, 0.44-0.91). None of the studies had follow-up times greater than 3 years.

There is very limited available evidence demonstrating efficacy of smoking prevention interventions in adolescents conducted in providers' offices and no evidence for long-term effectiveness of such interventions.