Physician tobacco advice to preteens in a smoking-prevention randomized trial: Steering clear

Abstract

Objective: To examine preadolescent and parental recall of tobacco prevention messages by health care providers. Methods: As part of a smoking prevention trial, providers were cued to reinforce the study and advise intervention participants (N = 4,026) not to use tobacco. All parents were surveyed at baseline; children were surveyed at 20 months; and a subsample (504 households) was surveyed at 6 and 12 months to assess discussion of tobacco use prevention and other health behavior topics by providers as well as susceptibility and experimentation with tobacco among children. Results: During the 20-month follow-up, less than 25% of children recalled a provider discussing tobacco use prevention. Recall of exposure to tobacco prevention messages at school (68%), from parents (53%), and from mass media (71%) was higher. Conclusions: Physician tobacco counseling is occurring at lower rates in preadolescents than it is in adults. A chart reminder to providers was insufficient to create a meaningful effect. © Society of Pediatric Psychology 2005; all rights reserved.