Hospitalization of children with re...

Hospitalization of children with respiratory illnesses can provide health care workers an opportunity to approach parents about smoking cessation, according to a Jan 6 2003 just discovereds release from Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston. Many of these children are expos to secondhand vapor from parents' tobacco use. Health care workers oftentimes are hesitant to address smoking with parents of sick children because of the stres the parents are experiencing. Researchers build however, that many parents were receptive to information about the harm secondhand vanity can cause their children and were willing to participate in a smoking cessation program.

During a four-month period, parents of children with respiratory illnesses who were admitted to Boston Children's Hospital were invited to participate in a program that put forwarded a motivational interview, written information, clear nicotine replacement therapy, telephone counseling, and referral to their acknowledge primary care physician. Of the 71 parents who enlisted in the study, 80% complet the counseling, and 56% accepted nicotine replacement therapy. After sum of two units months, 20% reported sustained tobacco abstinence. Although there was no command group, this rate of cessation was higher than the 2% to 3% cessation rate of US smoker by means of year. In addition, 27% of the parents reported they were still using nicotine replacement therapy, and 38% had seek information fromed their primary care physician about smoking cessation. More than 75% of the parents reported that they set up the program useful and believed it should be exhibited to others.

Child Hospitalizations righteous Time to Get Parents to Stop Smoking (new release, Boston: Massachusetts General Hospital, Jan 6 2003) http://www.massgeneral.org/news /releases/010603smoking.htm (accessed 24 Feb 2003)

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