Standardizing Tobacco Cessation Counseling Using the 5 A's Intervention

Area of Science:

• Cardiology
• Public Health
• Behavioral Science

Background:

• Tobacco use is a primary cause of preventable cardiovascular disease deaths.
• Variability in tobacco cessation counseling (TCC) delivery impacts patient quit attempt willingness.

Purpose of the Study:

• To assess the impact of a standardized 5 A's intervention for TCC in an outpatient cardiology clinic.
• To improve TCC consistency and patient smoking cessation outcomes.

Main Methods:

• A quality improvement framework was used to implement the 5 A's TCC protocol.
• Data collected from April to August 2021 included 629 patient encounters.
• Patient follow-up calls were conducted 30 days post-counseling.

Main Results:

• The mean TCC rate increased by 27.5% after implementing the 5 A's.
• Mean reported smoking cessation rates improved by 3.9%.
• Provider variation in TCC delivery significantly decreased.

Conclusions:

• The 5 A's intervention effectively standardized TCC delivery.
• Standardized TCC using the 5 A's led to increased patient-reported smoking cessation at 30 days.