SAN ANTONIO – Physician assistants (PAs) do not have enough reliable information regarding e-cigarettes and their health effects to adequately inform clinical practice decisions, according to research presented at the 2016 annual meeting of the American Academy of PAs (AAPA).
Despite a perceived lack of information regarding e-cigarettes, most PAs believed they are harmful to health, the presenters said. Nevertheless, most PAs reported that they did not always ask their patients about e-cigarette usage when taking their history.
The study included 162 participants from the New York State Society of Physician Assistants, aged 18 to 74. Participants were either a current PA (regardless of practice status) or a PA student with at least 6 months of clinical rotation experience.
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Each participant answered a self-administered survey via email that included 28 questions on their opinions, knowledge, and education regarding e-cigarettes, as well as questions on participants’ demographics and practice characteristics. The researchers used several 5-point Likert scale questions to assess attitudes about e-cigarettes. Familiarity was rated from 1 (“very unfamiliar”) to 5 (“very familiar”), and agreement was rated from 1 (“strongly disagree”) to 5 (“strongly agree”).
The mean rating of how familiar participants were with e-cigarettes was 3.4. The mean rating of agreement on various statements is summarized in the following table:
| Statement | Mean Rating |
|
“The amount of reliable information on e-cigarette devices in general is sufficient enough to help me make clinical practice decisions.” |
2.7 |
|
“The amount of reliable information on the health effects of e-cigarette devices in general is sufficient enough to help me make clinical practice decisions.” |
2.4 |
|
“I believe the majority of my patient population has used an e-cigarette device at least once.” |
2.5 |
|
“I believe the majority of my patient population uses e-cigarette devices on a daily basis.” |
2.1 |
When asked if e-cigarettes are harmful to patient health, 69% responded ‘yes,’ 28% were unsure, and 3% responded ‘no.’ Most participants (60%) said that they never ask about e-cigarette usage while taking a patient history, with 26% responding that they sometimes ask, and 14% responding that they always ask. When asked if they believe that e-cigarettes are an effective means of quitting smoking, 55% said ‘no,’ 25% were unsure, and 20% said ‘yes.’
“Our findings indicate that further evidence-based research and government regulation of e-cigarettes and e-flavors may guide practitioners in their discussion of these products with patients and their recommendation for use as tobacco cessation tools,” the researchers wrote.
Reference
- Green A, Kwiecien D, Mangal V, et al. An investigation of awareness & perception of e-cigarettes among PAs. ePoster presented at: 2016 annual meeting of the American Academy of PAs (AAPA); May 14-18, 2016; San Antonio, TX.
