What percentage of surveyed healthcare professionals reported regularly asking older patients about smoking status according to the survey done by Gautier and colleagues?

Healthcare Professionals' Practices Regarding Smoking Status Assessment in Older Patients

According to the survey by Gautier and colleagues, 75% of surveyed healthcare professionals reported regularly asking older patients about smoking status. 1

Analysis of Healthcare Professionals' Smoking Cessation Practices

The survey conducted by Gautier and colleagues in France provides important insights into how healthcare professionals approach smoking cessation with elderly patients. Their study revealed that while 75% of healthcare professionals reported regularly asking older patients about their smoking status, there were significant gaps in other aspects of smoking cessation care.

Key Findings from Gautier's Survey

• 75% of surveyed healthcare professionals reported regularly asking older patients about smoking status 1
• 66.7% of healthcare professionals incorrectly believed that older smokers had lower cessation rates 1
• Only 64.3% knew it was safe to prescribe nicotine replacement therapy for elderly patients 1
• Practice scores for implementing smoking cessation interventions averaged only 2.8 out of 7 possible points 1

Comparison with Other Research

This finding aligns with other research on healthcare professionals' smoking cessation practices:

• In the study by Solberg et al., 74% of current smokers reported being asked about tobacco use at their last primary care visit 2
• The NCCN Guidelines for Smoking Cessation emphasize that smoking status should be updated in patients' health records at regular intervals 2
• A survey of U.S. health professionals found that while many report asking (87.3%-99.5%) about smoking, fewer professionals follow through with other aspects of cessation care 3

Barriers to Comprehensive Smoking Cessation Care

Several barriers prevent healthcare professionals from providing comprehensive smoking cessation care to older patients:

• Lack of training in smoking cessation techniques (only 6% of physicians in one study had received training) 4
• Time constraints during patient visits 5
• Concern about increasing patient stress 4
• Misperceptions about older adults' ability to quit smoking 1
• Lower self-efficacy for helping older patients stop smoking 5

Importance of the 5A's Approach

The evidence suggests that healthcare professionals should implement the 5A's approach (Ask, Advise, Assess, Assist, Arrange) for smoking cessation:

• Ask about tobacco use at every visit
• Advise all smokers to quit
• Assess willingness to make a quit attempt
• Assist in quit attempt
• Arrange follow-up

However, research shows a consistent pattern where implementation decreases at each step of this process. While 74-75% of healthcare professionals ask about smoking status 2, 1, only 50-71% advise patients to quit 2, 4, and even fewer assist with quitting (16.4%-63.7%) or arrange follow-up (1.3%-23.1%) 3.

Improving Smoking Cessation Care for Older Adults

To improve smoking cessation care for older adults, healthcare systems should:

• Provide training for healthcare professionals in smoking cessation techniques
• Implement systematic ways to identify smokers in medical records
• Use prompts and reminders in electronic health records
• Provide feedback and incentives to physicians (which has been shown to increase rates of assistance) 2
• Address misperceptions about older adults' ability to quit smoking

The evidence clearly shows that while 75% of healthcare professionals report asking about smoking status, there remains significant room for improvement in providing comprehensive smoking cessation care to older adults.