Center for Health Policy Science & Tobacco Research, RTI International, Research Triangle Park, NC, USA.
Division of Chronic Disease Prevention, New York State Department of Health, Albany, NY, USA.
J Public Health Dent. 2019 Sep;79(3):246-252. doi: 10.1111/jphd.12321. Epub 2019 May 7.
Integrating smoking cessation interventions into dental care is an efficient way to intervene with smokers. This study of dentists and dental hygienists who provide dental care to Medicaid-insured patients explores awareness of Medicaid smoking cessation benefits, awareness of Quitline resources, beliefs about perceived role in providing tobacco interventions, and behaviors around clinical intervention.
In 2015, we conducted a survey of dentists and hygienists who serve Medicaid patients in New York State.
A total of 182 dentists and 92 hygienists completed the survey. Ninety percent reported that helping patients quit smoking is part of their role, while 51.0 percent reported feeling confident in their ability to counsel a patient about quitting. Most respondents (73.4 percent) asked patients about tobacco use, 83.7 percent advised smokers to quit, and 49.1 percent assisted with quit attempts. We found that 26.7 percent were aware that dentist smoking cessation counseling is covered by Medicaid, and 15.5 percent were aware that hygienist smoking cessation counseling is covered. A total of 38.9 percent were aware of any Medicaid coverage for smoking cessation. Awareness of the Medicaid smoking cessation benefit was associated with intervention behaviors of asking and assisting.
Most dental care providers see smoking cessation as part of their role, but few are aware of the Medicaid benefits available to help patients. Expanding coverage of and promoting Medicaid benefits for smoking cessation have the potential to increase the reach and quality of smoking cessation interventions for Medicaid-insured smokers, a population disproportionately affected by tobacco use.
将戒烟干预措施纳入牙科护理是干预吸烟者的有效方法。本研究针对为医疗补助保险患者提供牙科护理的牙医和牙科保健师，旨在探讨他们对医疗补助戒烟福利的认知、对戒烟热线资源的认知、对提供烟草干预措施的感知角色的信念，以及围绕临床干预的行为。
2015 年，我们对在纽约州为医疗补助保险患者提供服务的牙医和保健师进行了一项调查。
共有 182 名牙医和 92 名保健师完成了调查。90%的人报告说，帮助患者戒烟是他们职责的一部分，而 51.0%的人报告说对自己为患者提供戒烟咨询的能力有信心。大多数受访者（73.4%）询问患者有关烟草使用的情况，83.7%建议吸烟者戒烟，49.1%协助戒烟尝试。我们发现，26.7%的人知道牙医的戒烟咨询服务涵盖在医疗补助范围内，15.5%的人知道保健师的戒烟咨询服务涵盖在医疗补助范围内。共有 38.9%的人知道任何与医疗补助有关的戒烟覆盖范围。对医疗补助戒烟福利的认识与询问和协助等干预行为有关。
大多数牙科护理提供者认为戒烟是其职责的一部分，但很少有人了解为帮助患者提供的医疗补助福利。扩大对医疗补助戒烟的覆盖范围并推广其福利，有可能增加对医疗补助保险的吸烟者进行戒烟干预的范围和质量，而这些吸烟者是受烟草使用影响最大的人群之一。
