Smoking cessation: Principles and practice based upon the AHCPR Guideline, 1996

Cigarette smoking remains the lending preventable cause of morbidity and premature mortality in the United States. Although the vast majority of smokers come in contact with the health care system on a regular basis, clinical smoking cessation interventions happen infrequently and in a non-systematic manner In 1996, the Agency for Health Care Policy and Research (AHCPR) "Smoking Cessation Clinical Practice Guideline" provided detailed clinical practice recommendations based on a review of some 3,000 articles in the research literature and dozens of supporting meta-analyses. This article presents a simple four-step model for clinical smoking cessation. interventions, including systematic identification of smoking status, bi ief cessation advice from clinicians, assessment of patient motivation, and detailed assistance for those willing to stop smoking. It also provides the empirical basis for the AHCPR Guideline recommendations.