Practice Patterns Among Eye Care Providers at US Teaching Hospitals With Regard to Assessing and Educating Patients About Smoking

Purpose To investigate practice patterns of eye care providers at academic medical centers in the United States (US) with regard to assessing patients' smoking status and exposure, educating patients regarding ocular risks of smoking, and counseling patients about smoking cessation. Design Cross-sectional survey. Methods An anonymous survey including multiple choice and Likert-style questions was constructed on http://www.surveymonkey.com and emailed to the coordinators of all 113 US ophthalmology residency programs, with a request to forward to all faculty, fellows, residents, and optometrists at their institution. Main outcome measures include proportion of eye care providers who assess patients' smoking status, educate patients regarding ocular risks of smoking, and discuss with patients smoking cessation options. Results Of the 292 respondents, 229 (78%) “always” or “periodically” ask patients about their smoking status, 251 (86%) “seldom” or “never” ask patients about secondhand smoke exposure, 245 (84%) “always” or “periodically” educate patients about ocular diseases associated with smoking, 142 (49%) “seldom” or “never” ask patients who smoke about their willingness to quit smoking, and 249 (85%) “seldom” or “never” discuss potential methods and resources to assist with smoking cessation. Conclusions Most eye care providers assess patients' smoking status and educate patients regarding ocular risks of smoking. However, approximately half do not ask, or seldom ask, about patients' willingness to quit smoking, and most do not discuss smoking cessation options.