Efficacy of a smoking cessation quality improvement project during a preoperative evaluation in patients with metabolic syndrome

Abstract

<p><strong>Background and Purpose:</strong> Patients with metabolic syndrome who are currently smoking and are scheduled to undergo a surgical procedure are at a greater risk for perioperative complications. This project was designed to determine the efficacy of a brief educational intervention during a Preoperative Evaluation (POE) at Mayo Clinic Florida (MCF). Design Subjects were chosen as a convenience sample of patients scheduled for POE visits at MCF. All subjects are; 18 years of age or older, diagnosed with metabolic syndrome, and currently smoking.</p> <p><strong>Setting:</strong> Preoperative Evaluation Clinic at Mayo Clinic Florida. Participants All currently smoking patients with Metabolic Syndrome and over 18 years of age seen in the POE clinic at MCF.</p> <p><strong>Methods:</strong> The primary data collection comes from a self-report of smoking cessation during a telephone call approximately one month after scheduled surgery date. Patients who report cessation will be contacted at three months postoperatively to determine whether there has been sustained smoking cessation. A multi-level analysis including results of nicotine dependence, as determined by the Fagerstrom Test for Nicotine Dependence (FTND) was utilized to quantify dependence.</p> <p><strong>Findings:</strong> Self report of smoking cessation at approximately one month postoperative telephone contact was 27%. The rate of continued cessation at three months was 88%.</p> <p><strong>Implications:</strong> The brief smoking cessation intervention preoperatively was successful in the short term. Contact was made with 93 participants and 29 had stopped smoking from the time of surgery to the date of telephone contact. Participant&rsquo;s Fagerstrom score; zero to two is very low; and three to four is low nicotine dependence. This comprised 59% of the 29 subjects that had stopped smoking.</p>