Navigation, Contact Info, and Legend for the OSH Website
• View By Topic
• Quick Links
• About this Office
Contact Info
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion
Office on Smoking and Health
Tel: 1-800-CDC-INFO
(1-800-232-4636)
TTY: 1-888-232-6348
E-mail: tobaccoinfo@cdc.gov
Legend
= Link to a PDF document
(Adobe Acrobat™ Reader needs to be installed on your computer in order to read PDF documents.)
Download the Reader
= Link to nonfederal Web site
Disclaimer on nonfederal Web sites
2000 Surgeon General's Report—Reducing Tobacco Use
Management of Nicotine Addiction
Disclaimer
Highlights
Minimal Clinical Interventions
- According to three study findings, nearly 70% of American smokers
(36 million) make at least one outpatient visit each year, but health
care providers gave smoking cessation advice to only 40% to 52% of the
smokers.
- One recent study reported that only 15% of smokers who saw a physician
in the past year were offered assistance with quitting, and only 3%
were given a follow-up appointment to address the problem.
- In 1992, about half of all adult U.S. smokers visited a dentist,
but only 25% were advised to quit by their dentist.
- Effective strategies for treating tobacco use include brief advice
by medical providers, counseling, and pharmacotherapy.
- Less intensive interventions, as simple as physicians advising their
patients to quit smoking, can produce cessation rates of 5% to 10% per
year. More intensive interventions, combining behavioral counseling
and pharmacologic treatment, can produce 20% to 25% quit rates in one
year.
Pharmacotherapy
- Nicotine nasal spray was approved for prescription use in March
1996. The spray consists of a pocket-sized bottle and pump assembly,
with a nozzle that is inserted into the nose. Each metered spray delivers
0.5 mg of nicotine to the nasal mucosa.
- In May 1997 the nicotine inhaler was approved as a prescription
medication to treat tobacco dependence. The inhaler consists of a plastic
tube about the size of a cigarette and contains a plug filled with nicotine.
Menthol is added to the plug to reduce throat irritation. Smokers puff
on the inhaler as they would a cigarette. Each inhaler contains enough
nicotine for 300 puffs.
Economic Benefits
- Cost-effectiveness analyses have shown that smoking cessation treatment
compares favorably with hypertension treatment and other preventive
interventions such as annual mammography, pap tests, colon cancer screening,
and treatment of high levels of serum cholesterol.
- Treating tobacco dependence is particularly important economically
because smoking cessation can help prevent a variety of costly chronic
diseases, including heart disease, cancer, and lung disease. In fact,
smoking cessation treatment has been referred to as the "gold standard"
of preventive interventions.
- Progress has been made in recent years in disseminating clinical
practice guidelines on smoking cessation. Healthy People 2010 calls
for universal insurance coverage, both public and private, of evidence-based
treatment for nicotine dependency for all patients who smoke.
Disclaimer: Data and findings provided on this page reflect the content of
this particular Surgeon General's Report. More recent information may exist
elsewhere on the Smoking & Tobacco Use Web site (for example, in fact sheets,
frequently asked questions, or other materials that are reviewed on a regular
basis and updated accordingly).
Page last updated August 9, 2000