Counseling from dermatologists may increase attempts at tobacco cessation

Educational pamphlets from dermatology providers may help patients reduce or quit tobacco use, which contributes to several cutaneous disorders, according to a poster presented at the American Academy of Dermatology virtual meeting.

Patients at two Saint Louis University dermatology clinics were given questionnaires regarding tobacco use and knowledge of its effect on skin. They were subsequently provided with educational pamphlets regarding tobacco’s effects, and 1-week and 2-month follow-up phone calls were conducted to ask about changes in tobacco use and knowledge.

Forty-five patients were included in the study, with 37 receiving the 1-week follow-up and 18 receiving the 2-month follow-up. Tobacco was used multiple times a day by 95% of the patients, with 65% having attempted to quit in the previous year and 95% attempting to quit over their lifetime.

At 1 week, there was no significant change in patient knowledge about tobacco side effects. Ten of the 37 patients had made an attempt at quitting tobacco by 1 week, with seven of the 10 attributing their quit attempts to dermatologic counseling.

At 2 months, an additional five patients had attempted to quit tobacco use, and all of them attributed their attempts to counseling from their dermatology provider.

“Patients are overall knowledgeable about the effects of tobacco on their skin,” the study authors wrote. “The educational pamphlets can be effectively used as a patient-physician discussion guide, instead of only as a reference handout, for tobacco cessation counseling.”