SMOKING CESSATION, PHYSICIANS, AND MEDICAL OFFICE STAFF - CLINICAL TOBACCO INTERVENTION IN PRINCE-EDWARD-ISLAND

OBJECTIVE To assess attitudes and self-reported behaviours of physicia ns and medical office staff in Prince Edward Island concerning clinica l tobacco intervention (CTI). DESIGN Mail survey of PEI primary care p hysicians and their medical office staff. Most surveys were not mailed back but picked up in person by research staff. SETTING Primary care settings in PEI. PARTICIPANTS All active primary care physicians in PE I identified in the Canadian Medical Association database and medical office staff. Respondents included 63/88 (71.6%) physicians and 59/88 (67.0%) medical office staff. Fifty-seven physicians and medical offic e staff surveys overlapped. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES Attitudes and self-r eported behaviours in CTI. RESULTS More than 70% of the time, 68.3% of physicians reported asking new patients about their smoking behaviour and 66.7% reported that they listen to and acknowledge patients' feel ings and fears about stopping smoking. Close to half (43.3%) of physic ians reported thinking about or planning to do more CTI. Physicians an d medical office staff reported that staff had limited involvement in methods to cue smoking interventions. Only half (50.8%) of physicians reported that their offices are well set up to identify smokers and to help them quit smoking. Offices were well set up for CTI if physician s perceived that office staff had an active role in CTI and if follow- up visits were frequently arranged. CONCLUSIONS This study identified apparent opportunities for improving CIT, particularly in the areas of physician training, involvement of medical office staff, and awarenes s of billing codes. This could improve the quality of preventive care for patients in PEI.