Reaffirmation Recommendation Statement
Date: April 2009
This recommendation reaffirms the USPSTF’s 2003 recommendation on Counseling to Prevent Tobacco Use and Tobacco-Caused Disease with respect to adults and pregnant women. Go to http://www.ahrq.gov/clinic/uspstf/uspstbac.htm to view the 2003 recommendatino for children and adolescents. An updated recommendation on this topic for children and adolescents is being prepared. |
Summary of Recommendations
- The USPSTF recommends that clinicians ask all adults about tobacco use and provide tobacco cessation interventions for those who use tobacco products.
Grade: A recommendation.
- The USPSTF recommends that clinicians ask all pregnant women about tobacco use and provide augmented, pregnancy-tailored counseling for those who smoke.
Grade: A recommendation.
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Select for a Clinical Summary of this recommendation.
This report was first published in Annals of Internal Medicine in
April 2009 (Ann Intern Med 2009;150:551-55). Select for copyright
and source information.
Contents
Rationale
Clinical Considerations
Other Considerations
Discussion
Recommendations of Other Groups
References
Members of the USPSTF
Rationale
Importance
Tobacco use, cigarette smoking in particular, is the leading preventable cause of death in the United States. Tobacco use results in more than 400,000 deaths annually from cardiovascular disease, respiratory disease, and cancer. Smoking during pregnancy results in the deaths of about 1000 infants annually and is associated with an increased risk for premature birth and intrauterine growth retardation. Environmental tobacco smoke contributes to death in an estimated 38,000 people annually.
Recognition of Behavior
The "5-A" behavioral counseling framework provides a useful strategy for engaging patients in smoking cessation discussions: 1) Ask about tobacco use; 2) Advise to quit through clear personalized messages; 3) Assess willingness to quit; 4) Assist to quit; and 5) Arrange follow-up and support.
Effectiveness of Interventions to Change Behavior
In nonpregnant adults, the USPSTF found convincing evidence that smoking cessation interventions, including brief behavioral counseling sessions (<10 minutes) and pharmacotherapy delivered in primary care settings, are effective in increasing the proportion of smokers who successfully quit and remain abstinent for 1 year. Although less effective than longer interventions, even minimal interventions (<3 minutes) have been found to increase quit rates. Go to the Clinical Considerations section for a discussion of complementary services to which primary care clinicians may refer patients.
The USPSTF found convincing evidence that smoking cessation decreases the risk for heart disease, stroke, and lung disease.
In pregnant women, the USPSTF found convincing evidence that smoking cessation counseling sessions, augmented with messages and self-help materials tailored for pregnant smokers, increases abstinence rates during pregnancy compared with brief, generic counseling interventions alone. Tobacco cessation at any point during pregnancy yields substantial health benefits for the expectant mother and baby. The USPSTF found inadequate evidence to evaluate the safety or efficacy of pharmacotherapy during pregnancy.
Harms of Interventions
Finding no published studies that describe harms of counseling to prevent tobacco use in adults or pregnant women, the USPSTF judged the magnitude of these harms to be no greater than small. Harms of pharmacotherapy are dependent on the specific medication used. In nonpregnant adults, the USPSTF judged these harms to be small.
USPSTF Assessment
The USPSTF concludes that there is high certainty that the net benefit of tobacco cessation interventions in adults is substantial.
The USPSTF also concludes that there is high certainty that the net benefit of augmented, pregnancy-tailored counseling in pregnant women is substantial.
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Clinical Considerations
Patient Population Under Consideration
This recommendation applies to adults 18 years or older and all pregnant women regardless of age. The USPSTF plans to issue a separate recommendation statement about counseling to prevent tobacco use in nonpregnant adolescents and children.
Counseling Interventions
Various primary care clinicians may deliver effective interventions.
There is a dose-response relationship between quit rates and the
intensity of counseling (that is, more or longer sessions improve
quit rates). Quit rates seem to plateau after 90 minutes of total
counseling contact time.1 Helpful
components of counseling include problem-solving guidance for smokers
(to help them develop a plan to quit and overcome common barriers
to quitting) and the provision of social support as part of treatment.
Complementary practices that improve cessation rates include motivational
interviewing, assessing readiness to change, offering more intensive
counseling or referrals, and using telephone "quit lines."1
Treatment
Combination therapy with counseling and medications is more effective at increasing cessation rates than either component alone. Pharmacotherapy approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and identified as effective for treating tobacco dependence in nonpregnant adults includes several forms of nicotine replacement therapy (gum, lozenge, transdermal patch, inhaler, and nasal spray), sustained-release bupropion, and varenicline.1
Useful Resources
Detailed reviews and recommendations about clinical interventions for tobacco cessation are available in the U.S. Public Health Service Clinical Practice Guideline "Treating Tobacco Use and Dependence: 2008 Update" (available at http://www.surgeongeneral.gov/tobacco).1
Tobacco-related recommendations from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Guide to Community Preventive Services are available at http://www.thecommunityguide.org/tobacco/index.html.2 
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Other Considerations
Implementation
Strategies that have been shown to improve rates of tobacco cessation counseling and interventions in primary care settings include implementing a tobacco user identification system; providing education, resources, and feedback to promote clinician intervention; and dedicating staff to provide tobacco dependence treatment and assessing the delivery of this treatment in staff performance evaluations.1
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Discussion
In 2003, the USPSTF reviewed the evidence for tobacco cessation interventions
in adults and pregnant women contained in the 2000 U.S. Public Health
Service (PHS) clinical practice guideline "Treating Tobacco Use and
Dependence"3 and found that the benefits
of these interventions substantially outweighed the harms.4 In
2008, the USPSTF reviewed new evidence in the updated PHS guideline1 and
determined that the net benefits of screening and tobacco cessation interventions
in adults and pregnant women remain well established. The USPSTF found
no new substantial evidence that could change its recommendations and,
therefore, reaffirms its previous recommendations. The previous recommendation
statement4 and a link to the updated PHS
guideline review can be found at http://www.preventiveservices.ahrq.gov.
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Recommendations of Others
Policies of the American Academy of Family Physicians on tobacco use prevention
and cessation5 are available at http://www.aafp.org/online/en/home/policy/policies/t/tobacco.html.
Clinical recommendations of the American College of Preventive Medicine
on tobacco cessation counseling6 are
available at http://www.acpm.org/pol_practice.htm.
Recommendations of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists
for assisting smoking cessation during pregnancy7 are
available at http://www.acog.org/departments/dept_notice.cfm?recno=13&bulletin=1863.
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References
1. Fiore MC, Jaen CR, Baker TB, Bailey WC, Benowitz NL, Curry SJ, et al. Treating tobacco use and dependence: 2008 Update. Clinical Practice Guideline. Rockville, MD: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Public Health Service; 2008. Accessed at http://www.surgeongeneral.gov/tobacco/ on 24 September 2008.
2. Guide to community preventive services: tobacco use. Atlanta: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Accessed at http://www.thecommunityguide.org/tobacco/index.html on 16 March 2009.
3. Fiore MC, Bailey WC, Cohen SJ, Dorfman
SF, Fox BJ, Goldstein MG, et al. Treating tobacco use and dependence.
Clinical Practice Guideline. Rockville, MD: U.S. Department of Health
and Human Services, Public Health Service; 2000. Accessed at http://www.surgeongeneral.gov/tobacco/treating_tobacco_use.pdf on
31 March, 2009.
4. U.S. Preventive Services Task Force. Counseling to prevent tobacco use and tobacco-caused disease: recommendation statement. Rockville, MD: Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality; 2003. Accessed at http://www.preventiveservices.ahrq.gov on 24 September 2008.
5. American Academy of Family Physicians. Tobacco Use, Prevention and Cessation. Policy statement. Leawood, KS: American Academy of Family Physicians, 2005. Accessed at http://www.aafp.org/online/en/home/policy/policies/t/tobacco.html on 24 September 2008.
6. Kattapong VJ, Locher TL, Secker-Walker RH, Bell TA. American College of Preventive Medicine practice policy. Tobacco-cessation patient counseling. Am J Prev Med 1998;15:160-2. [PMID: 9713673]
7. ACOG Committee on Health Care for Underdeserved Women. ACOG committee opinion. Number 316, October 2005. Smoking cessation during pregnancy. Obstet Gynecol 2005;106:883-8. [PMID: 16199654]
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Members of the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force
Members of the USPSTF* are Ned Calonge, MD, MPH,
Chair (Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment, Denver,
Colorado); Diana B. Petitti, MD, MPH, Vice-Chair (Arizona State University,
Phoenix, Arizona); Thomas G. DeWitt, MD (Children's Hospital Medical
Center, Cincinnati, Ohio); Allen J. Dietrich, MD (Dartmouth Medical School,
Hanover, New Hampshire); Kimberly D. Gregory, MD, MPH (Cedars-Sinai Medical
Center, Los Angeles, California); David Grossman, MD (Group Health Cooperative,
Seattle, Washington); George Isham, MD, MS (HealthPartners Inc., Minneapolis,
Minnesota); Michael L. LeFevre, MD, MSPH (University of Missouri School
of Medicine, Columbia, Missouri); Rosanne M. Leipzig, MD, PhD (Mount
Sinai School of Medicine, New York, New York): Lucy N. Marion, PhD, RN
(School of Nursing, Medical College of Georgia, Augusta, Georgia); Bernadette
Melnyk, PhD, RN (Arizona State University College of Nursing & Healthcare
Innovation, Phoenix, Arizona); Virginia A. Moyer, MD, MPH (Baylor College
of Medicine, Houston, Texas); Judith K. Ockene, PhD (University of Massachusetts
Medical School, Worcester, Massachusetts); George F. Sawaya, MD (University
of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, California); J. Sanford
Schwartz, MD (University of Pennsylvania Medical School and the Wharton
School, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania); and Timothy Wilt, MD, MPH (University
of Minnesota Department of Medicine and Minneapolis Veteran Affairs Medical
Center, Minneapolis, Minnesota).
*Members of the Task Force at the time this recommendation was finalized. For a list of current Task Force members, go to http://www.ahrq.gov/clinic/uspstfab.htm.
Disclaimer:Recommendations made by the USPSTF are independent of the U.S. government. They should not be construed as an official position of the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality or the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
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Copyright
This document is in the public domain within the United States. For information on reprinting, contact Randie Siegel, Associate Director, Office of Communications and Knowledge Transfer, Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, 540 Gaither Road, Rockville, MD 20850.
Requests for linking or to incorporate content in electronic resources should be sent to: info@ahrq.gov.
Source: U.S. Preventive Services Task Force. Counseling and Interventions to Prevent Tobacco Use and Tobacco-
Caused Disease in Adults and Pregnant Women: U.S. Preventive Services
Task Force Reaffirmation Recommendation Statement. Ann Intern Med 2009;150:551-55.
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AHRQ Publication No. 09-05131-EF-1
Current as of April 2009
Internet Citation:
U.S. Preventive Services Task Force. Counseling and Interventions
to Prevent Tobacco Use and Tobacco-Caused Disease in Adults and Pregnant
Women: Reaffirmation Recommendation Statement. AHRQ Publication No.
09-05131-EF-1, April 2009. Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, Rockville,
MD. http://www.ahrq.gov/clinic/uspstf09/tobacco/tobaccors2.htm
540 Gaither Road Rockville, MD 20850