Physicians' views and practice of smoking cessation.

To assess recent smoking cessation practices of physicians in East Texas and to determine whether physicians' practices meet current standards, a 43-item questionnaire was mailed in May 2000 to 1955 physicians in East Texas. The 406 physicians who finished and returned the survey were included in this study. The questionnaire covered a wide range of sociodemographic variables, and physicians' attitudes and activities related to patients' smoking cessation. The survey results indicated that most physicians frequently ask their patients about smoking and advise patients who smoke to quit, but only half of all respondents always ask about their patients' smoking status and advise smokers to quit. Furthermore, less than half of surveyed physicians are willing to spend additional time to conduct additional activities that involve other office personnel or to provide additional smoking cessation assistance to help their patients quit.