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Patients Not Ready To Make A Quit Attempt Now (The "5 R's")

Treating Tobacco Use and Dependence: PHS Clinical Practice Guideline

Approximately 46 percent try to quit each year. Most try to quit "cold turkey." Of those, only about 5 percent succeed. Most smokers make several quit attempts before they successfully quit for good.

Patients not ready to make a quit attempt may respond to a motivational intervention. The clinician can motivate patients to consider a quit attempt with the "5 R's": Relevance, Risks, Rewards, Roadblocks, and Repetition.

Relevance

Encourage the patient to indicate why quitting is personally relevant.

Risks

Ask the patient to identify potential negative consequences of tobacco use.

Rewards

Ask the patient to identify potential benefits of stopping tobacco use.

Roadblocks

Ask the patient to identify barriers or impediments to quitting.

Repetition

The motivational intervention should be repeated every time an unmotivated patient has an interaction with a clinician. Tobacco users who have failed in previous quit attempts should be told that most people make repeated quit attempts before they are successful.

Internet Citation:

Patients Not Ready To Make A Quit Attempt Now (The "5 R's"). U.S. Public Health Service. Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. Rockville, MD. http://www.ahrq.gov/clinic/tobacco/5rs.htm