2004 OPEN FORUM Abstracts
A TOBACCO USE INTERVENTION EDUCATION PROGRAM CAN CHANGE SMOKING POLICIES IN THE HOMES OF CYSTIC FIBROSIS PATIENTS.
Hall
CR, MS RRT-NPS RPFT; Reyes JJ, BS RRT-NPS; Baker RR, PhD RRT
RCPT; Guill MF, MD. Medical College of Georgia. Augusta, GA.
Background: Environmental tobacco smoke (ETS) exposure continues to
have a significant impact on morbidity and mortality. Patients with chronic
pulmonary disease are at even higher risk from second-hand ETS
exposure. In spite of this, cystic fibrosis (CF) patients may live in
a home with parents who smoke. The Cystic Fibrosis Center
participated in the multi-center National Initiative for Children’s
Healthcare Quality study that examined, in part, the effect of a
tobacco use intervention educational program on changing smoking
policies within a patient’s home.
Methods: Upon
enrollment into the study, families were screened for tobacco use and
asked if they practiced a “no-smoking” policy in the
home. The patient and family members then received counseling from
the CF Educator using the 5 A’s of tobacco use intervention
(U.S. Department of Health and Human Services). Patients were
scheduled to return to the CF clinic on a quarterly basis. At each
return visit, data about a home “no-smoking”policy was
collected and tobacco use intervention counseling was given.
Results:
Eighty-one patients were enrolled throughout the 17 months that data
was collected at our center. Parental smoking was reported in 23%
(n=19) of the families. Figure 1 shows the percent of families with a
no-smoking policy in place during the course of the study.
During
the initial three months data on parental smoking was collected, only
45% of households with smoking parents had a no-smoking policy. At
the end of the study, 90% (17 of 19) of patients with smoking parents
reported a no-smoking policy in the home as compared with 98% (79 of
81) of all enrolled patients.
Conclusion: Our results
indicate that a tobacco intervention education program was successful
in changing the smoking policies in homes of patients with parents
who smoke. Thus, targeted patient/family education during routine
patient visits may have a substantial effect on reducing the
morbidity and mortality of patients with chronic pulmonary disease.