According to the findings of a national random-digit-dial telephone survey, most parents who smoke would enroll in a telephone smoking cessation program if their child's doctor offered enrollment in such a program during a health-care visit.
Interviewers of a representative sample of US adults determined whether children's physicians screened parents about their tobacco use and their child's exposure to smoke. Interviewers asked parents who had accompanied their child to a pediatrician or family practitioner in the past year if the provider asked about who in the household smokes; about their rules for allowing smoke in the house and car; and if they know the dangers of secondhand smoke. For a participant who was a current smoker, the interviewer also asked if the physician discussed the increased risk that children of smokers will become smokers; advised them to quit smoking; recommended medication to help them stop smoking; prescribed medication to help them stop smoking; referred them for additional services related to smoking, such as a quitline; or enrolled them in any of these services.
Of 958 parents surveyed, 187 (20%) smoked and, of those, 122 (65%) saw a child health-care clinician during the preceding year. The rates of physician screening for smoking control practices among the 688 parents (smokers and nonsmokers) who accompanied the child to the health-care visits were low-48% for tobacco use, 34% for rules that prohibit smoking in the home, and 27% for rules prohibiting smoking in the car. Among smokers in this group, screening rates were similarly low: Only 39% were advised by the physician to quit; 12% were recommended a medication to help them quit; 7% were actually prescribed such a medication; and only 11 (9%) received counseling recommendations. Yet, of the 187 parental smokers, 113 (64.2%) said they would accept enrollment in a telephone cessation program if the child's physician offered it. These results did not vary with parents' age, gender, or race, or the age of the child (Winickoff JP et al: Pediatrics 2006;117:e695).
Comparison of teen- and parent-reported estimates of social and emotional support, 2021 to 2022
July 23rd 2024The investigative team noted that teenagers with emotional and social support are better off to handle stressors such as biological and social transition, and are less likely to experience a variety of adverse physical and mental health outcomes.