The purpose of this study is to show that a patient-centered survey asking about smoking habits, with the option for nicotine replacement therapy (NRT) will increase the prescription rates among health care providers (HCP). The investigators also believe that this intervention can also lead to increased referrals to smoking cessation clinics and ultimately increase rates of smoking cessation.
Since the past decade, there has been an increased awareness of the effects of smoking of general health. In 2000, 18.1% of all US deaths were related to tobacco use. Multiple trials have proven that providing nicotine-replacement therapies to help smoking cessation were efficacious with various types of populations. However, smoking has not been eradicated in North America and was associated with a 3.1 million YPLL (years of potential life lost), along with 96.8 billion in productivity losses in the US4. We are carrying out a study of 200 inpatients on a general medicine ward to attempt to improve prescription rates of nicotine replacement therapy (NRT) and smoking cessation. Our goal is to use a patient centred approach to determine which patients would benefit from NRT and which patients would be in the contemplative stage of smoking cessation. We will want to look at whether a simple, short survey taken by patients can encourage the health care provider (HCP) to provide more NRT and more referrals to a smoking cessation clinic. We hope that this tool will improve the ability of HCP to provide optimal, comprehensive care. The study's findings should help to guide future practices for hospitalized smokers. Currently, standard treatment involves NRT being prescribed completely at the discretion of the physician. This occasionally involves a discussion with the patient regarding their preferences, but more often is a unilateral decision made by the health care provider. Additionally, we believe that this method misses a lot of potential patients who may benefit from this therapy but are otherwise not identified. We will not be using a placebo.
Study Type
INTERVENTIONAL
Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Purpose
SUPPORTIVE_CARE
Masking
NONE
Enrollment
100
Nicotine replacement therapy (inhalers, patches, gum, lozenges) at the discretion of the health care provider
St Paul's Hospital
Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
Number of prescriptions for NRT (as a percentage of the number of active smokers)
By eliciting patient attitudes toward smoking cessation, we aim to increase the rate of prescription of nicotine replacement by 15% on the medical wards at St. Paul's Hospital by 15% over a 1month period. We will measure the number of prescriptions for NRT of any kind by referencing pharmacy databases. This will be calculated as a percentage of active smokers.
Time frame: 1 month
Number of referrals to a smoking cessation clinic (as a percentage of the number of active smokers)
We hope to increase the number of referrals to smoking cessation clinics by 15% over one month. We will measure the number of patients referred for smoking cessation by contacting the clinic and cross-referencing the data by attending physician making the referral. This will be calculated as a percentage of active smokers.
Time frame: 1 month
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