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Smoking intervention in subjects at risk of asbestos‐related lung cancer
Author(s) -
Waage Halfrid P.,
Vatten Lars J.,
Opedal Einar,
Hilt Bjørn
Publication year - 1997
Publication title -
american journal of industrial medicine
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.7
H-Index - 104
eISSN - 1097-0274
pISSN - 0271-3586
DOI - 10.1002/(sici)1097-0274(199706)31:6<705::aid-ajim6>3.0.co;2-p
Subject(s) - medicine , asbestos , intervention (counseling) , smoking cessation , lung cancer , cancer , family medicine , physical therapy , cigarette smoking , nursing , pathology , materials science , metallurgy
A smoking intervention counseling program was applied among asbestos‐exposed male smokers younger than 65 years of age to examine the effect of an intervention based on risk communication. Intervention subjects (n = 431) were invited to a health status checkup combined with physician‐delivered smoking intervention counseling. Control subjects (n = 141) received no intervention. After 1 year, 5% of the responders in the intervention group, versus 3.4% in the control group, had stopped smoking. Corresponding conservative estimates were 3.5% and 2.6%, respectively. The quitters had been exposed to a higher “dose” of asbestos but had smoked less, and for a shorter period, than had the continuing smokers. Counseling by a general physician increased successful quitting threefold, compared to counseling by a physician in a specialized institution. These results suggest a potential for smoking cessation among subjects at high risk of lung cancer due to asbestos exposure. General practice care may be an appropriate setting both for identification of such subjects and for intervention. Am. J. Ind. Med. 31:705–712, 1997. © 1997 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.