The relationship between obesity and prescription of smoking cessation medications

The objective of this study was to examine the differences in prescription of smoking cessation medications among smokers with different body mass index (BMI) classifications. A retrospective cross-sectional study was conducted using National Ambulatory Medical Care Survey data (2006-2010). Self-reported current smokers aged 18 years and older were included in the study. The outcome of interest was receiving a prescription for a Food and Drug Administration-approved smoking cessation medication. Multivariate logistic regression was performed to assess the association between the outcome variable and the main independent variable (BMI classification), controlling for other covariates. The results showed that overweight, obese, and severely obese smokers were less likely to be prescribed a smoking cessation medication as compared to normal weight smokers. Although 5.11% of normal weight smokers were prescribed a smoking cessation medication, only 3.70% of overweight smokers, 3.41% of obese smokers, and 2.50% of severely obese smokers were prescribed a smoking cessation medication. In addition, older smokers, whites, smokers visiting primary care providers, smokers receiving tobacco counseling, and nondiabetic smokers were more likely to be prescribed a smoking cessation medication. Lower prescription of smoking cessation medications among overweight, obese, and severely obese smokers might be driven by patients' health concerns and behavioral factors or providers' treatment preferences or biases. The disparity in smoking cessation medication prescription among smokers with different BMI classifications raises quality of care and health care concerns for overweight, obese, and severely obese smokers.