Table 3 Frequency of clinician attitudes towards addressing tobacco dependence among older patients
Statement | All responses n = (%) | Professional Group n = (%) | Training Attendance n = (%) | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Medical | Non-medical | Statistic X2 (df=1) | Sig p= | Training | No Training | Statistic X2 (df = 1) | Sig p= | |||
I feel it lies within my remit of responsibility as a health professional to assist older people who smoke to address their tobacco dependence. | Agree | 154 (90.0) | 75 (94.9) | 79 (85.9) | 3.9 | 0.071 | 98 (92.4) | 55 (85.9) | 1.9 | 0.193 |
Disagree | 17 (10.0) | 4 (5.1) | 13 (14.1) | 8 (7.6) | 9 (14.1) | |||||
I feel I have sufficient knowledge of the detrimental effects of smoking in later life to be able to discuss this effectively when I have contact with older patients who smoke. | Agree | 134 (78.9) | 69 (87.3) | 65 (70.6) | 6.9 | 0.009 | 86 (81.1) | 47 (73.4) | 1.4 | 0.255 |
Disagree | 37 (21.1) | 10 (12.7) | 27 (29.4) | 20 (18.9) | 17 (26.6) | |||||
I feel I have sufficient knowledge of the benefits of stopping smoking in later life to be able to discuss this effectively with older patients who smoke. | Agree | 135 (78.3) | 71 (89.8) | 64 (69.5) | 10.5 | 0.001 | 87 (82.1) | 47 (73.4) | 1.8 | 0.245 |
Disagree | 36 (21.7) | 8 (10.2) | 28 (30.5) | 19 (17.9) | 17 (26.6) | |||||
I feel I have sufficient knowledge of the barriers that may prevent older people from attempting to stop smoking. | Agree | 102 (59.6) | 48 (60.7) | 54 (58.7) | 0.1 | 0.876 | 69 (65.1) | 32 (50.0) | 3.8 | 0.056 |
Disagree | 69 (40.4) | 31 (39.3) | 38 (41.3) | 37 (34.9) | 32 (50.0) | |||||
I feel I have sufficient knowledge of nicotine addiction/withdrawal to be able to discuss this effectively with older patients who smoke. | Agree | 123 (71.9) | 59 (74.6) | 64 (70.6) | 0.5 | 0.498 | 81 (76.4) | 42 (65.6) | 2.3 | 0.157 |
Disagree | 48 (28.1) | 20 (25.4) | 28 (29.4) | 25 (23.6) | 22 (34.4) | |||||
I feel I have the skills required to be able to encourage older patients who smoke to make a quit attempt. | Agree | 122 (71.7) | 66 (83.5) | 56 (61.5) | 10.1 | 0.002 | 79 (75.2) | 42 (65.6) | 1.8 | 0.219 |
Disagree | 48 (28.3) | 13 (16.5) | 35 (38.5) | 26 (24.8) | 22 (34.4) | |||||
I feel I have sufficient knowledge of nicotine replacement and other pharmacotherapies which can help older smokers to quit, and feel able to discuss this with patients. | Agree | 115 (67.6) | 60 (75.9) | 55 (60.4) | 4.6 | 0.034 | 74 (70.4) | 41 (64.1) | 0.7 | 0.400 |
Disagree | 55 (32.4) | 19 (24.1) | 36 (39.6) | 31 (29.6) | 23 (35.9) | |||||
I am comfortable discussing my older patients smoking behaviours with them. | Agree | 136 (80.4) | 72 (92.3) | 64 (70.3) | 12.9 | <0.001 | 87 (83.6) | 49 (76.5) | 1.3 | 0.312 |
Disagree | 33 (19.6) | 6 (7.7) | 27 (29.7) | 17 (16.4) | 15 (23.5) | |||||
Smoking is one of the few pleasures older people have. | Agree | 41 (24.1) | 7 (8.9) | 34 (37.4) | 18.7 | <0.001 | 20 (19.0) | 21 (32.8) | 4.1 | 0.043 |
Disagree | 129 (75.9) | 72 (91.9) | 57 (62.6) | 85 (81.0) | 43 (67.2) | |||||
Giving up smoking is unlikely to provide older people with any benefit. | Agree | 9 (5.2) | 0 (0.0) | 9 (9.8) | 8.3 | 0.004 | 4 (3.8) | 5 (7.8) | 1.3 | 0.302 |
Disagree | 161 (94.8) | 79 (100.0) | 82 (90.2) | 101 (96.2) | 59 (92.2) | |||||
I feel that it is the role of more specialist staff to actually support an older patient's cessation attempt. | Agree | 51 (30.0) | 24 (30.3) | 27 (29.7) | 0.10 | 1.000 | 26 (24.7) | 25 (39.0) | 3.9 | 0.058 |
Disagree | 119 (70.0) | 55 (69.7) | 64 (70.3) | 79 (75.3) | 39 (61.0) | |||||