Smoking Cessation Interventions

This study examined medical students and residents attitudes and beliefs regarding smoking cessation interventions. Each participant completed questionnaires comprised of demographic items, three scales (i.e., Physicians Counseling Smokers, Self- Efficacy Scale, Motivation Scale), and several items related to attitudes and beliefs about smoking and smoking cessation. Overall, findings from this study failed to demonstrate reliable differences in attitudes and beliefs across levels of medical training. One significant difference was detected for one measure of role beliefs, indicating students believe more strongly that it is part of the physician s role to assist patients in efforts to stop smoking compared to residents. Additionally, it was found that the vast majority of medical students and residents in this study had never heard of the Clinical Practice Guideline, which is a document published for use by all healthcare professionals and considered to be a standard of care for smoking cessation interventions. This finding may be used to help inform future medical training, so that the Clinical Practice Guideline will be incorporated into the curriculum.

Autorentext

Alison C. Babitzke obtained a BS with honors in psychology and sociology from East Central University in Oklahoma and a MS from the clinical psychology program at Oklahoma State University. Ms. Babitzke's research, which has been presented at national conferences and published as scholarly articles, focuses on health and behavior change.

Klappentext

This study examined medical students' and residents' attitudes and beliefs regarding smoking cessation interventions. Each participant completed questionnaires comprised of demographic items, three scales (i.e., Physicians Counseling Smokers, Self- Efficacy Scale, Motivation Scale), and several items related to attitudes and beliefs about smoking and smoking cessation. Overall, findings from this study failed to demonstrate reliable differences in attitudes and beliefs across levels of medical training. One significant difference was detected for one measure of role beliefs, indicating students believe more strongly that it is part of the physician's role to assist patients in efforts to stop smoking compared to residents. Additionally, it was found that the vast majority of medical students and residents in this study had never heard of the Clinical Practice Guideline, which is a document published for use by all healthcare professionals and considered to be a standard of care for smoking cessation interventions. This finding may be used to help inform future medical training, so that the Clinical Practice Guideline will be incorporated into the curriculum.