A Smoking Cessation Program in the Oral Health Care Setting

Smoking is a significant health problem with well documented detrimental health effects. Of particular concern is the increasing trend for females to smoke. Objectives: This study investigated the efficacy of a minimal intervention program in assisting female patients to quit. It was delivered in an oral health setting as part of routine dental treatment. Methods: One hundred female smokers, recruited from the University of Queensland Dental School Clinic, participated in the study. All participants were given standard health belief and smoking questionnaires (SF-36 and Fageström). Fifty randomly selected participants in the case group also received printed smoking cessation information and brief motivational interviewing based counselling at 0, 2 and 4 weeks. At 3 months, the standard questionnaires were re-administered. Results: The level of smoking addiction for both groups, at baseline was moderate to severe (total Fageström score >25). From the seventy eight questionnaires received at 3-months, 2 of 41 participants in the case group and 4 from the control group had ceased smoking. Considering all participants, a significant change in smoking behaviour was observed from baseline (Fageström p=0.008). However, at 3 months, there were no statistically significant differences in the case group from baseline. On the other hand, in the control group there was a significant reduction in measures of cigarette intake and nicotine dependence. Conclusion: The results suggest that raising the topic of smoking with dental patients may provide some incentive for people to change there smoking behaviour, however, the inclusion of a motivational interview counseling procedure did not seem to enhance this result Acknowledgements: This study was partly funded by Queensland Health, commissioned by Cancer Prevention Research.