Cigarette smoking, desire to quit, and tobacco-related counseling among patients at adult health centers

Objectives: We determined cigarette smoking prevalence, desire to quit, and tobacco-related counseling among a national sample of patients at health centers. Methods: Data came from the 2009 Health Center Patient Survey and the 2009 National Health Interview Survey. The analytic sample included 3949 adult patients at health centers and 27 731 US adults. Results: Thirty-one percent of health center patients were current smokers, compared with 21% of US adults in general. Among currently smoking health center patients, 83% desired to quit and 68% received tobacco counseling. In multivariable models, patients had higher adjusted odds of wanting to quit if they had indications of severe mental illness (adjusted odds ratio [AOR] = 3.26; 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.19, 8.97) and lower odds if they had health insurance (AOR = 0.43; 95% CI = 0.22, 0.86). Patients had higher odds of receiving counseling if they had 2 or more chronic conditions (AOR = 2.05; 95% CI = 1.11, 3.78) and lower odds if they were Hispanic (AOR = 0.57; 95% CI = 0.34, 0.96). Conclusions: Cigarette smoking prevalence is substantially higher among patients at health centers than US adults in general. However, most smokers at health centers desire to quit. Continued efforts are warranted to reduce tobacco use in this vulnerable group.