The effect of referral to smoking cessation services from healthcare practitioner on smoking cessation rate : a systematic review

Abstract

Objective: To investigate the effect of referral to smoking cessation services from healthcare practitioner on smoking cessation rate, by comparing smoking cessation rate based on the type of intervention referred by healthcare practitioners; the person delivering referred intervention; the profession of referral source, etc. Methods and Results: Studies published between 2000 to 2013 from PubMed, Web of Science and Medline were searched against with specific keywords. A total of 449 studies were identified. 5 studies with relevant information were shortlisted and included in this systematic review. The studies were conducted in various countries, the baseline data between the intervention and control group were recorded. The results from the 5 studies were inconsistent, some of the interventions have relatively high smoking cessation rate, however, most of the interventions did not find significant difference in the rate between the intervention or control group. Discussion: Most of the studies did not find significant increase in smoking cessation rate after referral from healthcare practitioners. This result could be affected by the attitude of healthcare practitioners, the profession of referral source, the type of smoking cessation intervention referred, etc. A more thorough investigation has to be carried out to investigate the effect on the result. Referral of motivated smokers only might increase the cessation rate, raising its cost-effectiveness. Conclusion: Referral to smoking cessation programme from most types of healthcare practitioners does not increase the smoking cessation rate of smokers, exception for referral to quitline from general practitioners.