CHEST introduces physician toolkit to aid patients in tobacco cessation
June 16, 2021
Glenview, Illinois – The American College of Chest Physicians® (CHEST) released a
physician-facing Tobacco Dependence Treatment Toolkit with guidelines on how
to better assess a patient’s readiness and willingness to change and begin
treatment for tobacco addiction.
According to the Centers for Disease Control, the majority of smokers would
like to stop smoking, and each year, about half try to quit permanently with
only a 6% success rate. Most smokers will make multiple attempts before they
are able to quit permanently, and they will need the guidance of their
physician to increase their likelihood of success.
With topics including motivational interviewing, testing/diagnostics,
treatment basics (including e-cigarettes/smokeless tobacco) and insurance
billing, the Tobacco Dependence Treatment Toolkit will serve as a resource
to strengthen the physician approach to guiding patients through breaking a
nicotine addiction.
“Using very straightforward and clear instructions, the toolkit helps
physicians understand how to help a tobacco-dependent brain learn to
function without nicotine. Science is translated into best clinical practice
so that patients can be helped through the very difficult and often
frustrating process of quitting tobacco,” says David Prezant, MD, FCCP. “The
approach is to provide every patient willing to make a quit attempt the
supportive counseling and medications needed, because that’s the
prescription which yields the greatest success.”
To increase the likelihood of success in quitting, the toolkit recommends
two complementary strategies for treating tobacco dependence:
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How to cope with the nicotine withdrawal (through counseling)
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How to suppress the withdrawal and overcome the reinforcing effects of
nicotine (with medication)
“The tobacco landscape has changed drastically in the past 5 or 10 years to
now include a high prevalence of vapor and smokeless tobacco products that
are often targeted at young adults,” says Steven Q. Simpson, MD, FCCP. “With
guides on the newer nicotine sources, this is another tool for the physician
arsenal to provide the best possible care and support for patients looking
to break their tobacco addiction.”
View and download the free Tobacco Dependence Treatment Toolkit.
This project was supported in part by an independent medical education grant
from Pfizer.
About the American College of Chest Physicians
The American College of Chest Physicians® (CHEST) is the global leader in
the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of chest diseases. Its mission is to
champion advanced clinical practice, education, communication and research
in chest medicine. It serves as an essential connection to clinical
knowledge and resources for its 19,000+ members from around the world who
provide patient care in pulmonary, critical care and sleep medicine. For
information about the American College of Chest Physicians, and its flagship
journal CHEST®, visit
chestnet.org.