PPRNet Practice Guidelines
Tobacco Use
Practice guideline:
· Identification of patients who are tobacco users with cessation counseling for patients with a diagnosis of tobacco abuse
All patients should be asked if they use tobacco and should have their tobacco-use status documented on a regular basis. Brief tobacco dependence treatment is effective, and every patient who uses tobacco should be offered assistance with cessation. Treatments involving person-to-person contact (via individual, group, or proactive telephone counseling) are consistently effective, and their effectiveness increases with treatment intensity (e.g., minutes of contact).
Numerous pharmacotherapies for smoking cessation now exist. Except in the presence of contraindications, these should be used with all patients who are attempting to quit smoking. Pharmacotherapies that reliably increase long-term smoking abstinence rates are varenicline (Chantix), Bupropion SR, Nicotine gum, Nicotine inhaler, Nicotine nasal spray, and Nicotine patch.
Additional resources:
USPSTF Recommendation Statement
Tobacco
Cessation Guidelines from the Office of the Surgeon General
Helping Smokers Quit: A Guide for Nurses
