Health care providers should assist patients in breaking the smoking habit
September 26, 2017
Nearly all of those surveyed reported visiting a health care provider within the previous year. Among the 18 percent of cancer survivors who reported currently smoking, nearly 65 percent indicated they wanted to quit smoking and 40 percent had tried to quit within the last year. The study found that when survivors try to quit smoking they, unfortunately, tend not to use evidence-based behavioral treatments or pharmacotherapies (such as nicotine patches or gum), which is consistent with the general population of smokers.
"This survey cannot tell us why these people did not get the help quitting that they needed or why some survivors didn't receive smoking cessation advice from their health care providers," Coups says. "Yet it should serve as encouragement to health care providers to talk about smoking with their cancer survivor patients, and not to assume that another provider is taking care of the problem. Survivors especially need guidance in using evidence-based smoking cessation treatments."
Source: Fox Chase Cancer Center