TY - JOUR
T1 - Nondisclosure of Smoking Status to Health Care Providers Among Current and Former Smokers in the United States
AU - Curry, Laurel Erin
AU - Richardson, Amanda
AU - Xiao, Haijun
AU - Niaura, Raymond S.
N1 - Funding Information:
Data collection for this study was supported by a grant to Legacy from Pfizer, Inc. Laurel Curry, Amanda Richardson, and James Xiao received salary support from the grant for time spent on the project; however, Pfizer did not support the authors in the writing of this manuscript.
PY - 2013/6
Y1 - 2013/6
N2 - An unintended consequence of tobacco control's success in marginalizing smoking is that smokers may conceal their smoking from those who are best positioned to help them quit: health care providers (HCPs). The purpose of this study was to identify the prevalence of, and factors related to, nondisclosure of smoking to HCPs. Data were obtained from a cross-sectional survey of adults from a nationally representative Knowledge Networks online panel in March to April 2011. Current and former smokers (n = 2,803) were asked questions about nondisclosure, tobacco use, cessation behavior, and perceived social unacceptability of smoking. All variables significantly related (p<.05) to nondisclosure in bivariate logistic regression were included in the multivariate logistic regression model, which also adjusted for gender, age, race, marital status, and education. Approximately 1 in 10 smokers (12.9%) and 5.8% of former smokers has withheld their smoking status from HCPs. Ever smokers who were 18 to 34 years, those who had used a prescription medication or behavioral therapy in their last quit attempt, and those who were uncomfortable discussing smoking with their HCP were more likely to report nondisclosure than those in their respective comparison groups. Respondents who perceived either medium or high smoker-related stigma (odds ratio [OR] = 1.70, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.05, 2.77 and OR = 2.60, 95% CI = 1.51, 4.48, respectively) and those who reported concealing smoking to gain benefits from health insurance were also significantly more likely to have kept smoking a secret from an HCP (OR = 5.66, 95% CI = 1.88, 17.02). Smokers should be encouraged to be forthright about their smoking in order for practitioners to offer treatment and services that increase their chances of quitting.
AB - An unintended consequence of tobacco control's success in marginalizing smoking is that smokers may conceal their smoking from those who are best positioned to help them quit: health care providers (HCPs). The purpose of this study was to identify the prevalence of, and factors related to, nondisclosure of smoking to HCPs. Data were obtained from a cross-sectional survey of adults from a nationally representative Knowledge Networks online panel in March to April 2011. Current and former smokers (n = 2,803) were asked questions about nondisclosure, tobacco use, cessation behavior, and perceived social unacceptability of smoking. All variables significantly related (p<.05) to nondisclosure in bivariate logistic regression were included in the multivariate logistic regression model, which also adjusted for gender, age, race, marital status, and education. Approximately 1 in 10 smokers (12.9%) and 5.8% of former smokers has withheld their smoking status from HCPs. Ever smokers who were 18 to 34 years, those who had used a prescription medication or behavioral therapy in their last quit attempt, and those who were uncomfortable discussing smoking with their HCP were more likely to report nondisclosure than those in their respective comparison groups. Respondents who perceived either medium or high smoker-related stigma (odds ratio [OR] = 1.70, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.05, 2.77 and OR = 2.60, 95% CI = 1.51, 4.48, respectively) and those who reported concealing smoking to gain benefits from health insurance were also significantly more likely to have kept smoking a secret from an HCP (OR = 5.66, 95% CI = 1.88, 17.02). Smokers should be encouraged to be forthright about their smoking in order for practitioners to offer treatment and services that increase their chances of quitting.
KW - health communications
KW - patient education
KW - smoking and tobacco use
KW - tobacco control and policy
KW - training health professionals
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84878166304&partnerID=8YFLogxK
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U2 - 10.1177/1090198112454284
DO - 10.1177/1090198112454284
M3 - Article
C2 - 22984217
AN - SCOPUS:84878166304
SN - 1090-1981
VL - 40
SP - 266
EP - 273
JO - Health Education and Behavior
JF - Health Education and Behavior
IS - 3
ER -