A NEW study from the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York, USA, stresses the importance of a universal screening and opt-out referral strategy that may mitigate disparities in tobacco treatment access and use in cancer care.
‘Persistent smoking is associated with adverse clinical outcomes in cancer care. Black and Hispanic patients with cancer typically have lower access to and use of tobacco treatment services compared with White patients’ opened lead author, Gleneara Bates-Pappas. To combat this disparity in treatment access, the team set out to examine the potential benefits of universal tobacco screening and an opt-out tobacco treatment referral model.
Data was analysed from patients diagnosed with cancer at the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center from 1st January 2018–31st December 2022. To minimise the effects of smoking on cancer, post diagnosis, patients identified as currently smoking were tobacco treatment. The researchers analysed the differences in tobacco use, tobacco treatment referral, and acceptance by race and ethnicity using χ2 and t tests.
Results revealed of the 302,971 patients observed during the study period (58.7% female and 41.3% male; mean [SD] age: 61.9 years), 61% of subjects were current smokers. Additionally, tobacco use varied significantly by race, with Black or African American patients reporting the highest tobacco use (7.1% versus 3.8%, 6.2% and 6.1% for patients of Asian, White or another race respectively; P<0.001). Furthermore, 18,475 patients were identified as currently smoking, with 87.1% of which being offered tobacco treatment. Acceptance of this treatment among Black or African American patients (66.3% compared with 46.5%, 53.7%, and 58.1% for Asian, White, and other races, respectively; P<0.001).
‘These findings suggest that a standardized tobacco use assessment with opt-out referral to tobacco treatment in a large cancer care setting is feasible and achieves higher tobacco treatment referral and acceptance rates than typically observed’ remarked Bates-Papas.
Helena Bradbury, EMJ
Reference
Bates-Pappas GE et al. Universal tobacco screening and opt-out treatment referral strategy among patients diagnosed with cancer by race and ethnicity. JAMA Netw Open. 2024;7(4):e249525.
