Psychological, demographic and situational factors of family physicians which influence cigarette cessation interventions in office-based practice.

Abstract

Sixty-five office-based family physicians completed a mailed questionnaire which sought to determine the extent to which these physicians offer cigarette cessation interventions to their patients. This information was related to 44 scales from 7 psychological tests completed by each physician during residency training. Ninety percent of these physicians intervene personally, while outside referral to an expert and internal referral to a nurse were each utilized by less than 12% of the sample. Over 45% of these private practitioners used supplemental video or written materials. A number of psychological characteristics but no demographic or situational variables discriminated physicians regarding the implementation of these cigarette cessation interventions.