Colposcopy and Smoking Cessation: Survey and Education Intervention Pilot Study

Abstract

Objective: The objective of the study was to understand variations in smoking cessation practices across Canadian colposcopy clinics and to assess improvements in smoking cessation counseing after the provision of jurisdiction-specific resources. Methods: An electronic survey was sent to members of the Society of Canadian Colposcopists and the Gynaecologic Oncologists of Canada to characterize current smoking cessation counseling practices to inform the design of the educational initiative. Colposcopy clinics were invited to participate in the pilot involving the collection of smoking counseling data from patient charts pre- and postintervention. Region-specific smoking cessation resource toolkits were created for participating clinics. Descriptive statistics were used for the analysis. Results: 32/266 colposcopists responded to the survey. 25/32 respondents indicated that they asked all patients about their smoking status. Most respondents indicated that they tell patients smoking increases the risk of developing cervix cancer (88%) and that smoking negatively affects the immune system and human papillomavirus clearance (94%). Five clinics participated in the education initiative. While there is variation in practice, after providing smoking cessation resources to clinics, both assessing smoking status and smoking cessation counseling improved with most sites increasing their referral rates to family doctors or smoking cessation clinics (range: 10%–50%). Conclusions: Gaps exist in smoking cessation counseling in some Canadian colposcopy clinics. Standardizing assessment and documentation of smoking status, using effective models of counseling, and providing jurisdiction-specific resources to colposcopy clinics may improve smoking cessation counseling.