Original articleHealthcare Providers' Beliefs and Attitudes About Electronic Cigarettes and Preventive Counseling for Adolescent Patients
Section snippets
Methods
We surveyed a statewide sample of physicians and nurse practitioners who provide preventive care to preteens and adolescents ages 11–17 years. We identified potential participants through publicly available lists provided by the Minnesota Boards of Medical Practice and of Nursing. From these lists, we sampled providers in pediatric and family medicine specialties, excluding providers without e-mail addresses or Minnesota mailing addresses. Because our sampling frame included many providers who
Results
Most providers were female (71%) and practiced in a suburban setting (42%) (Table 1). Respondents included family medicine physicians (46%), pediatricians (20%), and nurse practitioners (34%). The average age was 48 years (SD 11 years), and most providers (59%) completed their clinical training prior to 2000.
Discussion
To our knowledge, this study is the first to examine healthcare providers' awareness of and attitudes about e-cigarettes and adolescents, an important emerging public health concern given the dramatic increase in use of e-cigarettes by U.S. adolescents between 2011 and 2012 [8]. Our findings suggest nearly all providers had heard of e-cigarettes, but most had learned about them from anecdotal sources such as patients, news stories, and advertisements, rather than through professional avenues.
Acknowledgments
This study was funded through a 2012 Young Investigator Award from the Academic Pediatric Association, supported by the Maternal and Child Health Bureau and the American Academy of Pediatrics (Federal Grant U04MC07853-03). The study was further supported by a NRSA in Primary Medical Care from HRSA (T32HP22239, PI: Borowsky); UNC Lineberger Cancer Control Education Program (R25 CA57726); and Clinical and Translational Science Institute grant support (UL1RR033183) to the University of Minnesota
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Conflicts of interest: None