Tobacco Control

Abstract

Smoking is the leading cause of death and illness in the United States and one of the leading causes in the world. It causes or contributes to dozens of illnesses, including cancers of the aerodigestive tract, genitourinary tract, and hematopoietic system. These tobacco-related conditions are completely preventable. Because smoking is more common among low-income individuals, who are more likely to visit hospital emergency departments (EDs), the ED visit is an opportunistic time to screen for smoking and initiate treatment and referrals for those who do. A growing body of evidence suggests that a combination approach using evidence-based treatments—counseling and nicotine replacement medication—holds promise to help ED smokers quit. Remaining challenges include developing time- and resource-sensitive interventions that can be scaled for use in most EDs. Scalable interventions might include referral to smokers’ quitlines and the use of mobile health technologies, like texting, to deliver motivational messages to smokers.