A smoking cessation intervention plus proactive quitline referral in the pediatric emergency department: A pilot study

The prevalence of adult tobacco users who utilize the emergency department as patients or parents is disproportionately higher than the national average rates of tobacco use. Thus, it is advised that the emergency department be utilized as a venue for providing tobacco cessation counseling to adult tobacco users. Using a randomized control trial design, this pilot study evaluated the effect of a brief tobacco cessation intervention for tobacco using parents of children brought to a pediatric emergency department. Participants received either usual care or a brief tobacco cessation intervention based on the first 2 of the 5A's of the Clinical Practice Guidelines and fax referral to the Quitline. The primary outcome was self-reported repeated point prevalence of tobacco use at 6 weeks and 3 months following the intervention. Secondary aims included number of quit attempts, increases in readiness to quit, comparisons of participants who were successfully retained, and contact rates by Quitline counselors. At 3-month follow-up, compared to the Usual Care Control group, intervention participants were more likely to have made at least one quit attempt (59% vs. 34%; p.01), be seriously thinking about quitting (68% vs. 37%; p.001), and have higher Ladder scores (6.2 vs. 5.3; p.05). Study personnel were able to contact 68% and 52%, respectively, of participants at 6-week and 3-month follow-up. Quitline counselors were unable to reach 54% of participants. Our results reveal increased intentions to quit and trends toward quitting, however we experienced difficulties with participant retention. Suggestions for improvements in point prevalence and retention are given.