Such data underscores the importance of programs like Philadelphia FRESH a free health education program from Temple University -- that helps parents create a smoke-free home, and why were interested in learning how to enhance pediatricians role in the overall process in promoting clean home air environments, Collins said.
For The Journal of Pediatrics article, Collins and his co-authors surveyed physician training needs and attitudes towards improving secondhand smoke reduction efforts at a Philadelphia hospital.
Sixty-six residents across all years of training and twenty-seven preceptors (resident supervisors) responded to the survey. Most pediatricians surveyed believed second-hand smoke exposure was a serious health concern for children, but they also believed they were not equipped to help. Almost all respondents (93 percent) reported that they received less than two hours of smoking cessation training during residency.
Survey participants cited key barriers to addressing patients second-hand smoke exposure, including lack of training, time, confidence in their tobacco intervention skills, and knowledge about appropriate tobacco intervention resources.
A recent large scale analysis from the Cochrane Collaboration showed that brief physician advice provided in primary care, hospital wards, and outpatient clinics significantly increased the odds of quitting smoking by approximately 2.5 percent compared to no advice. While the analysis called this a a small effect on cessation rates, a 2.5 percent annual improvement in promoting parental smoking cessation would result in the improved health of tens if not hundreds of thousands of children each year from a public health perspective, Collins said.
Linking brief physician advice and follow-up with more intensive behavioral smoking treatment programs, like Ph
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Contact: Anna Nguyen
anna.nguyen@temple.edu
215-707-1731
Temple University
1-May-2007