What the experts are saying
Research shows that for every 33 conversations health professionals have with patients about their smoking, one will result in a patient successfully quitting.
A systematic review conducted through the Cochrane Collaboration in 2008 highlights that brief advice from a health professional can double the rate of quitting. Stead, Bergson and Lancaster pooled data from 17 trials of brief advice versus no advice. They detected a significant increase in the rate of quitting smoking among those who received brief advice compared with those who received no advice (relative risk 1.66 and 95% confidence interval 1.42 to 1.94).
Stead L., Bergson G., Lancaster T. Physician advice for smoking cessation. Cochrane Database Syst Rev 2008; (2): CD000165
Dr Hayden McRobbie
Dr McRobbie is an international expert in behavioural medicine. Here, Dr McRobbie explains the importance of health professionals raising smoking with their patients. He highlights that it just takes a minute to assist a patient to quit.
