Hispanic physicians' tobacco intervention practices: a cross-sectional survey study
Hispanic physicians' tobacco intervention practices: a cross-sectional survey study
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Date
2005-11-14
Authors
Soto Mas, Francisco G
Papenfuss, Richard L
Jacobson, Holly E
Hsu, Chiehwen Ed
Urrutia-Rojas, Ximena
Kane, William M
Advisor
Citation
Soto Mas, F.G., Papenfuss, R.L., Jacobson, H.E. et al. Hispanic physicians' tobacco intervention practices: a cross-sectional survey study. BMC Public Health 5, 120 (2005).
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Abstract
Background: U.S. Hispanic physicians constitute a considerable professional collective, and they may be most suited to
attend to the health education needs of the growing U.S. Hispanic population. These educational needs include tobacco
use prevention and smoking cessation. However, there is a lack of information on Hispanic physicians' tobacco
intervention practices, their level of awareness and use of cessation protocols, and the type of programs that would best
address their tobacco training needs. The purpose of this study was to assess the tobacco intervention practices and
training needs of Hispanic physicians.
Methods: Data was collected through a validated survey instrument among a cross-sectional sample of self-reported
Hispanic physicians. Data analyses included frequencies, descriptive statistics, and factorial analyses of variance.
Results: The response rate was 55.5%. The majority of respondents (73.3%) were middle-age males. Less than half of
respondents routinely performed the most basic intervention: asking patients about smoking status (44.4%) and advising
smoking patients to quit (42.2%). Twenty-five percent assisted smoking patients by talking to them about the health risks
of smoking, providing education materials or referring them to cessation programs. Only 4.4% routinely arranged followup
visits or phone calls for smoking patients. The majority of respondents (64.4%) indicated that they prescribe cessation
treatments to less than 20% of smoking patients. A few (4.4%) routinely used behavioral change techniques or programs.
A minority (15.6%) indicated that they routinely ask their patients about exposure to tobacco smoke, and 6.7% assisted
patients exposed to secondhand smoke in understanding the health risks associated with environmental tobacco smoke
(ETS). The most frequently encountered barriers preventing respondents from intervening with patients who smoke
included: time, lack of training, lack of receptivity by patients, and lack of reimbursement by third party payers. There
was no significant main effect of type of physician, nor was there an interaction effect (gender by type of physician), on
tobacco-related practices.
Conclusion: The results indicate that Hispanic physicians, similarly to U.S. physicians in general, do not meet the level
of intervention recommended by health care agencies. The results presented will assist in the development of tobacco
training initiatives for Hispanic physicians.