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Presentation date

Summer 8-12-2021

College, Institute, or Department

Pediatrics

Faculty Mentor

Arwa Nasir, MBBS

Abstract

Cigarette smoking is the leading cause of preventable death in the United States, and increases the risk of heart disease, stroke, and lung cancer. Second-hand smoke (SHS) exposure increases the risk of many acute and chronic childhood diseases including respiratory infections, asthma, cancer, perinatal mortality, delayed growth and development, and SIDS. Screening for SHS exposure in children is recommended during well child visits and aims at identifying the risk, providing an opportunity to educate the family on the harmful effects of tobacco, and offering resources to help quit smoking or reduce the child's exposure. Smoking cessation interventions and support have been shown to be effective in initiation of smoking cessation efforts, successful quitting, and prevention of relapse. The aims of this study are to optimize the screening process for tobacco exposure in children by asking most effective screening question and implementing universal screening in all health care visits, as well as to prevent SHS exposure by offering education and smoking cessation resources for families who are interested in smoking cessation. The number of parents/caregivers with a documented answer to the question increased significantly after the intervention and continued to increase in the maintenance phase. However, the number of parents who gave positive answers (yes for smoking) remained roughly the same from pre to the post implementation period, resulting in a decrease in the proportion of positive answers in the total sample. In addition, more than 1,100 families asked for resources to help with smoking cessation.

Keywords

smoking, second-hand smoke, pediatric well-visits

Asking the Right Questions: Screening for Second-Hand Tobacco Exposure in Pediatric Primary Care.
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