Cigarette smoking: the clinician's role in cessation, prevention, and public health

Cigarette smoking is the most important preventable cause of illness and death in the United States, responsible for 390,000, or one sixth, of all deaths. Although smoking prevalence has decreased among adults, from 40% in 1965 to 29% in 1987, 49 million Americans continue to smoke. Smoking rates have declined at a slower rate among blacks, women, young people, and the less educated, groups that must be targeted for tobacco use prevention interventions. The clinician is uniquely positioned to reduce the enormous health toll from cigarette smoking. As a first step, physicians are urged to assess tobacco use during every patient visit by making smoking status a new vital sign. Although 85% of all smokers quit on their own, physicians can greatly facilitate this process. A brief intervention for physicians to help their smoking patients quit, based on a program of the National Cancer Institute, is presented. This program includes asking about smoking status during every clinic visit, advising all smoking patients to quit, assisting smokers by setting a quit date and using nicotine gum, if appropriate, and arranging follow-up with smokers who try to quit. Cessation rates of 5% to 25%, sustained for at least 1 year, are consistent with a successful, physician-mediated intervention program. Physicians are also urged to prevent smoking initiation among adolescents, particularly young girls and those not aspiring to attend college. Physicians can also reduce the enormous toll of tobacco use by acting at the public health and public policy levels. Recording tobacco use as a contributing or the underlying cause on death certificates, if appropriate, will assist in public health surveillance. Also, clinicians are urged to work at the organizational, community, and governmental levels to promote tobacco-free environments.