HMG1
OBJECTIVE: To
determine whether smokers at clinics providing care for the medically
underserved can be characterized according to the transtheoretical
stages of change model. STUDY DESIGN: Prospective, descriptive study.
POPULATION: Smokers in the waiting rooms of clinics providing care for the
medically underserved. OUTCOMES MEASURED: Standardized questionnaires that
assessed stages of change, processes of change, decisional balance, and
self-efficacy and temptation. RESULTS: The smoking rate of subjects interviewed
at 4 clinics was 44%. Two hundred current smokers completed the questionnaires.
Smokers claiming that they planned to quit within 6
months scored higher on experiential process statements that are consistent
with quitting smoking than did smokers who claimed they were not planning to
quit within 6 months. They also scored higher on behavioral statements related
to quitting. Concerns about the negative aspects of smoking were more important
to smokers planning to quit than to smokers not planning to quit, whereas the
statements assessing positive aspects of smoking were rated the same.
Fifty-five percent of the smokers were smoking a pack or more each day and
reported smoking more during negative situations and from habit than did
smokers who smoked less than a pack a day. CONCLUSIONS: Smokers planning to
quit who still smoke at least a pack a day may benefit from counseling to
decrease smoking for specific reasons or from pharmacologic aids. Smokers at
the clinics who planned to quit smoking reported experiences and behaviors that
were consistent with their stated desire to quit and should be counseled in the
same fashion as smokers from more traditional practices.
PMID: 12540324 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]