Eal Whan Park, Yoo-Seock Cheong

Department of Family Medicine, College of Medicine, Dankook University, Cheonan, Korea


Background: Smoking cessation services for inpatients can be provided effectively through interdisciplinary collaborations. Physicians could play a central role in smoking cessation counseling and treatment for recovery from illness and health promotion of the inpatient. This study aimed to investigate the perspectives of physi- cians on inpatient smoking cessation services.
Methods: We conducted one personal and two focus group interviews with clinical faculties at a university hos- pital in Seoul and a university hospital in Chungnam using semi-structured questionnaires. Interviews were re- corded, and the transcribed verbatim was analyzed qualitatively.
Results: The physicians recognized the need for inpatient smoking cessation services and recognized that smoking cessation was effective when the patient had a smoking-related illness such as respiratory or car- diovascular disease Additionally, the physicians recognized the need for hospital management to support smoking cessation in hospitalized patients and recognized that it was effective to have a dedicated workforce with a smoking cessation coordinator. There was support from four types of physicians in the smoking cessa- tion program: active participant, passive supporter, passive ignorer, and active refuser.
Conclusions: The physician is important for the effective implementation of inpatient smoking cessation services. A dedicated team for the smoking cessation of the inpatient, the establishment of evidence-based da- ta on the effectiveness of the inpatient smoking cessation services, and development of customized smoking cessation services will be necessary to strengthen the role of physicians.
Korean J Health Promot 2019;19(3):128-137

Keywords: Smoking cessation, Inpatients, Physicians