If It Is As Simple As AAAAA B C, Why Don’t We Do It?

Excerpt

In 2000, the U.S. Public Health Service released a clinical practice guideline for promoting smoking cessation that called on health care providers to follow a 5-A protocol: Ask about smoking at every visit; Advise all tobacco users to quit; Assess willingness to make a quit attempt; Assist the patient in quitting (i.e., helping set a quit date, referring to a special program, and prescribing pharmacotherapy tailored to their addiction level and habits); and Arrange a follow-up contact within one week after quit date to provide further assistance.1 The updated 2008 guideline confirmed the effectiveness of treatments and highlighted the importance of the healthcare system in the success of tobacco treatment strategies.2 Although the majority of smokers are identified at clinic visits and report receiving advice during these visits, effective smoking cessation assistance such as counseling and pharmacotherapy are generally underutilized.3 There is much room for improvement to increase the reach of existing evidenced-based smoking cessation practices. …