Problem/Objective: Physicians can play an important role in promoting smoking cessation among their patients. Clinical practice guidelines recommend physicians follow a five-step process with their patients at every visit to determine readiness to quit and encourage cessation, but simply advising a patient to quit smoking has been found effective. This presentation examines the extent of physician advice to quit among adults overall, as well as in different socioeconomic, demographic and health status subgroups. This information will identify disparities in physician intervention that can be addressed by tobacco control professionals and continuing medical education.

Methods: The data presented are from a representative, community-based telephone survey of more than 10,000 households in the Philadelphia metropolitan area conducted in 2006. Ten similar surveys, all addressing a wide range of health-related topics, have been conducted periodically since 1983.

Results: Survey respondents include nearly 1,700 current smokers who had seen a doctor within the past year. Overall, 65.5% had been advised to quit smoking by a physician. Those most likely to report advice to quit smoking include persons with a chronic health condition and older adults. Differences are also observed among respondents based on age, gender, insurance status and race. There were no differences by income.

Conclusions: The results of this presentation support the need for continuing efforts to encourage physicians to intervene with their patients who smoke, and highlight the importance of intervening with young adults who have not yet developed a chronic health condition.