3/1/2005 Donna Shelley et al. Pediatrics Vol. 115 No. 3 March 2005, pp. 719-725 (doi:10.1542/peds.2004-0873) This Article Objective: The present study describes patterns of tobacco use counseling among physicians and dentists as reported by adolescents and determines the association between provider advice to quit and cessation activities among current smokers. Methods: Data were analyzed from the 2000 National Youth Tobacco Survey, an anonymous, self-administered, school-based survey. The National Youth Tobacco Survey was administered to a nationally representative sample of 35828 students in grades 6 to 12 in 324 schools. Results: Thirty-three percent of adolescents who visited a physician or a dentist in the past year reported that a physician counseled them about the dangers of tobacco use, and 20% reported that a dentist provided a similar message. Among students who smoked in the past year, 16.4% received advice to quit from a physician and 11.6% received advice to quit from a dentist. Physician or dentist advice to quit was correlated with 1 or more quit attempts in the past 12 months. Conclusion: On the basis of adolescent reports, physician and dentist practice patterns remain well below recommended guidelines. Results suggest that provider advice to quit is associated with cessation activity. Additional studies are needed to confirm whether the low prevalence of brief provider tobacco use counseling is a missed opportunity to affect adolescent smoking behavior. Authors: Donna Shelley, MD, MPH(1), Jennifer Cantrell, MPA(1), Dorothy Faulkner, PhD(2), Lyndon Haviland, DrPH(3), Cheryl Healton, DrPH(3) and Peter Messeri, PhD(1) Authors' Affiliations: (1)Sociomedical Sciences, [...]

3/1/2005 Providence, RI Karen Lee Ziner The Providence Journal (www.projo.com) Ronald Lizotte's treatment for tongue cancer put him through hell. At its worst, he was nearly drowning in mucus, raw lesions pocked his tongue and throat, and "swallowing anything was like consuming fire and glass." But Lizotte had never smoked, which made him wonder how he had acquired squamous cell carcinoma of the tongue, otherwise known as "smoker's tumor." Lizotte's doctors suspect secondhand smoke, from his father's two-to-three-pack-a-day habit. As this 56-year-old life-insurance salesman says, "This is what can happen to innocent bystanders." The Cranston resident was diagnosed with cancer in 1999 and this month celebrates his five-year anniversary of being cancer-free. He plans to testify in opposition to legislation that would create new exemptions to the smoking ban that takes effect tonight at midnight. A hearing on the bill has been postponed until later this month. "It makes me angry to know that people are not worried about lives," Lizotte says of House Bill 5020, sponsored by House Labor Chairman Joseph L. Faria, D-Central Falls. "They try to jump on the bandwagon of personal freedoms," Lizotte says. "But what about the people who don't smoke?" Why should they be subjected to smoke at their workplace, at restaurants or bars? he asks. Secondhand smoke "isn't just something a bunch of scientists dreamed up," says Lizotte in a speech he has written for his House testimony, on behalf of the American Cancer Society -- Rhode Island. "It makes people sick. It [...]