Smoking and asthma
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SUMMARY OF PRACTICE POINTS
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LEVEL OF EVIDENCE
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| Brief smoking cessation advice from doctors delivered opportunistically during routine consultations improves quit rates. |
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| Set up a system to identify and document tobacco use in all patients. This can almost double the rate of clinician intervention and improves cessation rates among patients. |
II |
| Smoking cessation advice from all health professionals is effective in increasing quit rates. |
I |
| Follow-up is effective in increasing quit rates. |
I |
| Relapse prevention advice can reduce relapse rates. |
II |
| Telephone call-back counselling services (e.g. Quit program) are effective in assisting smokers who are ready to quit. |
II |
| Nicotine replacement therapy and bupropion sustained release are effective in helping motivated people to quit smoking. |
I |
| Regardless of the treatment setting, all forms of nicotine replacement therapy (e.g. gum, transdermal patches, nasal spray, inhaler, sublingual tablets) approximately double quit rates at 5- to 12-month follow-up, compared with placebo. |
I |
| In smokers who are highly nicotine-dependent, combinations of different forms of nicotine replacement therapy are more effective than one form alone. |
II |
| Bupropion sustained release is effective in smoking cessation. |
I |
| Acupuncture or hypnotherapy are ineffective in assisting smoking cessation. |
I |
| Offer pneumococcal vaccination to all smokers |
[√] |
Smoking ranks second after overweight as a major cause of premature death and illness among Australians.1 About one in two regular smokers dies of a smoking-related disease.2
People with asthma have even more reason than those without asthma to avoid smoking. In addition to the known adverse health effects of smoking in the general community, the fact that cigarette smoking worsens asthma and reduces the effectiveness of medication warrants serious efforts by health professionals and patients to eradicate smoking.
Content Created (Thursday, 16 November 2006)
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Last Updated ( Thursday, 31 May 2007 )
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Smoking and asthma 
