Clinicians' Advice to Quit Smoking

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In 2018 to 2019, 69.5% of adult who smoked and had seen a physician during the past 12 months reported being advised by that doctor to quit smoking.

Summary graph for Clinicians' Advice to Quit Smoking, Click to see detailed view of graph

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Background

Clinicians’ advice to quit smoking can, by itself, increase quit attempts and quit success and can have even greater impact if coupled with cessation counseling and/or medication. In addition, even brief clinical interventions have been shown to be cost effective for increasing the motivation of people who smoke to quit.

Clinical guidelines recommend clinicians utilize the “5 A’s” (ask, advise, assess, assist, and arrange) when screening for tobacco use and providing cessation interventions. For patients ready to quit, clinicians can provide cessation assistance and support, including medication, counseling, referral to treatment extenders, and follow-up. For patients who are not yet ready to quit, clinicians can instead provide a brief intervention designed to promote the motivation to quit. A wide variety of clinicians, including dentists, physicians, nurses, and other health professionals such as pharmacists, can effectively implement brief strategies to increase future quit attempts. Many individual pharmacies and one national pharmacy chain have decided not to sell tobacco products, recognizing that the sale of tobacco products is not compatible with their important role in health care.
 

Measure

The percentage of adults who smoke (aged 18 years and older) and have seen a physician in the past 12 months who report that the physician advised them to quit smoking.

Healthy People 2030 Target

  • Increase to 58.1 percent the proportion of adults who smoke that receive advice to quit from a health professional.

This Healthy People 2030 (HP2030) goal is focused on all health professionals, including a medical doctor, dentist, or other health professional, and the chosen data source for this goal is the National Health Interview Survey. In contrast, the data presented in the Cancer Trends Progress Report are based on reports from patients regarding whether they received smoking cessation advice from their physicians, and data presented are drawn from the Tobacco Use Supplement to the Current Population Survey. Therefore, the data presented in this report cannot be directly compared to the HP2030 objective.

Healthy People 2030 is a set of goals set forth by the Department of Health and Human Services.
Note: Goals are indicated as blue line on Detailed Trend Graphs.

Data Source

The Tobacco Use Supplement to the Current Population Survey Harmonized Data, National Cancer Institute, 1992–2019.

Trends and Most Recent EstimatesHelp with navigating the graphs and data tables

By Sex

Percentage of adults aged 18 years and older who smoke and have seen a physician in the past year and were advised to quit smoking by sex, 1992-2019
Overview Graph Detailed Trend Graphs Most Recent Estimates (2018 to 2019)
Percent of adults 95% Confidence Interval
Thumbnail of graph for Percentage of adults aged 18 years and older who smoke and have seen a physician in the past year and were advised to quit smoking by sex, 1992-2019 Both SexesClick to see the detailed trend graph for Both Sexes 69.5 68.3 - 70.8
MaleClick to see the detailed trend graph for Male 67.9 66.1 - 69.6
FemaleClick to see the detailed trend graph for Female 71.2 69.4 - 72.8

By Race/Ethnicity

Percentage of adults aged 18 years and older who smoke and have seen a physician in the past year and were advised to quit smoking by race/ethnicity, 1992-2019
Overview Graph Detailed Trend Graphs Most Recent Estimates (2018 to 2019)
Percent of adults 95% Confidence Interval
Thumbnail of graph for Percentage of adults aged 18 years and older who smoke and have seen a physician in the past year and were advised to quit smoking by race/ethnicity, 1992-2019 All RacesClick to see the detailed trend graph for All Races 69.5 68.3 - 70.8
Non-Hispanic WhiteClick to see the detailed trend graph for Non-Hispanic White 71.0 69.4 - 72.5
Non-Hispanic BlackClick to see the detailed trend graph for Non-Hispanic Black 67.3 63.5 - 70.9
HispanicClick to see the detailed trend graph for Hispanic 60.9 56.5 - 65.2

By Age

Percentage of adults aged 18 years and older who smoke and have seen a physician in the past year and were advised to quit smoking by age, 1992-2019
Overview Graph Detailed Trend Graphs Most Recent Estimates (2018 to 2019)
Percent of adults 95% Confidence Interval
Thumbnail of graph for Percentage of adults aged 18 years and older who smoke and have seen a physician in the past year and were advised to quit smoking by age, 1992-2019 Ages 18-24Click to see the detailed trend graph for Ages 18-24 55.9 48.8 - 62.8
Ages 25+Click to see the detailed trend graph for Ages 25+ 71.5 70.4 - 72.7

By Sex and Age

Percentage of adults aged 18 years and older who smoke and have seen a physician in the past year and were advised to quit smoking by sex and age, 1992-2019
Overview Graph Detailed Trend Graphs Most Recent Estimates (2018 to 2019)
Percent of adults 95% Confidence Interval
Thumbnail of graph for Percentage of adults aged 18 years and older who smoke and have seen a physician in the past year and were advised to quit smoking by sex and age, 1992-2019 Males, ages 18-24Click to see the detailed trend graph for Males, ages 18-24 54.0 43.4 - 64.3
Males, ages 25+Click to see the detailed trend graph for Males, ages 25+ 70.2 68.5 - 71.8
Females, ages 18-24Click to see the detailed trend graph for Females, ages 18-24 58.0 48.1 - 67.4
Females, ages 25+Click to see the detailed trend graph for Females, ages 25+ 72.9 71.3 - 74.4

By Poverty Income Level

Percentage of adults aged 18 years and older who smoke and have seen a physician in the past year and were advised to quit smoking by poverty income level, 1998-2019
Overview Graph Detailed Trend Graphs Most Recent Estimates (2018 to 2019)
Percent of adults 95% Confidence Interval
Thumbnail of graph for Percentage of adults aged 18 years and older who smoke and have seen a physician in the past year and were advised to quit smoking by poverty income level, 1998-2019 < 200% of the federal poverty levelClick to see the detailed trend graph for < 200% of the federal poverty level 68.5 66.6 - 70.3
>= 200% of the federal poverty levelClick to see the detailed trend graph for >= 200% of the federal poverty level 70.5 68.4 - 72.4

By Education Level

Percentage of adults aged 25 years and older who smoke and have seen a physician in the past year and were advised to quit smoking by highest level of education obtained, 1992-2019
Overview Graph Detailed Trend Graphs Most Recent Estimates (2018 to 2019)
Percent of adults 95% Confidence Interval
Thumbnail of graph for Percentage of adults aged 25 years and older who smoke and have seen a physician in the past year and were advised to quit smoking by highest level of education obtained, 1992-2019 Less than High SchoolClick to see the detailed trend graph for Less than High School 71.6 68.3 - 74.7
High SchoolClick to see the detailed trend graph for High School 72.1 70.3 - 73.8
Greater than High SchoolClick to see the detailed trend graph for Greater than High School 70.9 69.2 - 72.5

Additional Information on Clinicians' Advice to Quit Smoking

Quitting Resources

Year Range

1992-2019

Recent Summary Trend Year Range

2014-2019

Summary Tables

Clinicians' Advice to Quit Smoking

Recent Summary Trend

Rising

Desired Direction

Rising