[Smoking cessation in general practice].

Health problems and diseases related to smoking are common problems in primary health care. However, primary health care physicians are less inclined to advise their smoking patients to stop smoking and give specific counselling. This is in contrast with the expectations of the smoking patients who expect their physicians to do so. An introduction to behavior modification for smoking cessation in primary health care is given. Factors linked to successful cessation are shown, as indication for nicotine substitution in the weaning stage is discussed. Stop smoking counselling is a challenging task in primary health care, its efficacy being often underestimated by the physician.