Skip to main content

Main menu

  • HOME
  • ONLINE FIRST
  • CURRENT ISSUE
  • ALL ISSUES
  • AUTHORS & REVIEWERS
  • SUBSCRIBE
  • BJGP LIFE
  • MORE
    • About BJGP
    • Conference
    • Advertising
    • eLetters
    • Alerts
    • Video
    • Audio
    • Librarian information
    • Resilience
    • COVID-19 Clinical Solutions
  • RCGP
    • BJGP for RCGP members
    • BJGP Open
    • RCGP eLearning
    • InnovAIT Journal
    • Jobs and careers

User menu

  • Subscriptions
  • Alerts
  • Log in

Search

  • Advanced search
British Journal of General Practice
Intended for Healthcare Professionals
  • RCGP
    • BJGP for RCGP members
    • BJGP Open
    • RCGP eLearning
    • InnovAIT Journal
    • Jobs and careers
  • Subscriptions
  • Alerts
  • Log in
  • Follow bjgp on Twitter
  • Visit bjgp on Facebook
  • Blog
  • Listen to BJGP podcast
  • Subscribe BJGP on YouTube
British Journal of General Practice
Intended for Healthcare Professionals

Advanced Search

  • HOME
  • ONLINE FIRST
  • CURRENT ISSUE
  • ALL ISSUES
  • AUTHORS & REVIEWERS
  • SUBSCRIBE
  • BJGP LIFE
  • MORE
    • About BJGP
    • Conference
    • Advertising
    • eLetters
    • Alerts
    • Video
    • Audio
    • Librarian information
    • Resilience
    • COVID-19 Clinical Solutions
Out of Hours

Smoking cessation research: valuable lessons for GP trainees

Mohammed Ahmed Rashid
British Journal of General Practice 2013; 63 (613): 424. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3399/bjgp13X670732
Mohammed Ahmed Rashid
Department of Public Health and Primary Care, University of Cambridge, Cambridge.
Roles: NIHR Academic Clinical Fellow
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
  • Article
  • Info
  • eLetters
  • PDF
Loading

Almost a 100 years to the day after the birth of the eminent epidemiologist Richard Doll on 28 January 1912, the results of the smoking analyses of the million women study were published.1 The report, fittingly dedicated to Doll by the authors, demonstrates the hazards of prolonged smoking and benefits of smoking cessation in women. This adds another important chapter to the health literature on smoking that Doll famously contributed enormously to, particularly through his landmark 50-year study of smoking among British doctors. Epidemiologists will naturally have followed this story with interest, but I feel that there are also valuable lessons for trainees in general practice.

Many GPs may question the relevance of smoking cessation research to their practice as nurses and pharmacists carry out most clinical work in this area. I would put to them the same argument that my Latin teacher would use on those students that insolently questioned the value of learning a ‘dead’ language; that abstract principles and learning skills are transferable, regardless of whether the educational content is practically used.

The need for opportunistic health promotion is clear and of course, this is reason enough for smoking to be on the agenda of all clinicians. The growing evidence supporting techniques such as motivational interviewing is particularly clinically relevant. The RCGP curriculum mentions smoking cessation a number of times, under various clinical headings. However, the domain of smoking cessation research could additionally provide trainees with an introduction to primary care evidence-based medicine.

Smoking increases the risk of many diseases and has therefore been investigated by researchers from various clinical specialties. The widespread impact of smoking has in fact made it one of the first areas where transdisciplinary research has evolved. Most GPs will have encountered the quintessential lifelong smoker who has COPD, peripheral vascular disease, coronary disease, and a tracheostomy following throat cancer surgery! The smoking cessation literature highlights the importance of researchers collaborating and overcoming boundaries between disciplines.

Smoking cessation research also reveals much about health behaviours. The role of identity in smokers is well recognised. The complex interplay of friends and family as well as work and home life that lead to these changes are important to explore in many general practice scenarios. This may be the first time that many trainees will engage with disciplines such as health psychology and anthropology, which provide valuable insights into patients’ experiences. In particular, the mind maps and social network trees often reported in this type of research reveal much about health behaviours generally.

Finally, research into smoking asks important questions about the ethics of resource allocation. Does the tax levied on smokers balance the costs arising from smoking-related diseases? What about less obvious expenditure such as the neonatal care costs of premature babies born to smoking mothers? As we move into the world of clinical commissioning, GPs will need to be well versed in health economics and analysing a complex and costly lifestyle habit could provide a useful way to consider important financial principles.

Smoking is an example of a wide-ranging and well-investigated health issue. This is reflected in the variety of disciplines involved in smoking cessation research, from oncology to cardiology and from psychology to public health. GPs have a unique insight into patient’s lives and therefore have the potential to provide truly holistic care.

Smoking cessation is an example of where this care can be invaluable and examining the associated literature could additionally provide trainees with a valuable introduction to unfamiliar research disciplines. Along the way, they may even be inspired by the brilliant work of iconic individuals like Richard Doll.

  • © British Journal of General Practice 2013

REFERENCE

  1. 1.↵
    1. Pirie K,
    2. Peto R,
    3. Reeves GK,
    4. et al.
    (2013) The 21st century hazards of smoking and benefits of stopping: a prospective study of one million women in the UK. Lancet 381(9861):133–141.
    OpenUrlCrossRefPubMed
Back to top
Previous ArticleNext Article

In this issue

British Journal of General Practice: 63 (613)
British Journal of General Practice
Vol. 63, Issue 613
August 2013
  • Table of Contents
  • Index by author
Download PDF
Article Alerts
Or,
sign in or create an account with your email address
Email Article

Thank you for recommending British Journal of General Practice.

NOTE: We only request your email address so that the person to whom you are recommending the page knows that you wanted them to see it, and that it is not junk mail. We do not capture any email address.

Enter multiple addresses on separate lines or separate them with commas.
Smoking cessation research: valuable lessons for GP trainees
(Your Name) has forwarded a page to you from British Journal of General Practice
(Your Name) thought you would like to see this page from British Journal of General Practice.
CAPTCHA
This question is for testing whether or not you are a human visitor and to prevent automated spam submissions.
Citation Tools
Smoking cessation research: valuable lessons for GP trainees
Mohammed Ahmed Rashid
British Journal of General Practice 2013; 63 (613): 424. DOI: 10.3399/bjgp13X670732

Citation Manager Formats

  • BibTeX
  • Bookends
  • EasyBib
  • EndNote (tagged)
  • EndNote 8 (xml)
  • Medlars
  • Mendeley
  • Papers
  • RefWorks Tagged
  • Ref Manager
  • RIS
  • Zotero

Share
Smoking cessation research: valuable lessons for GP trainees
Mohammed Ahmed Rashid
British Journal of General Practice 2013; 63 (613): 424. DOI: 10.3399/bjgp13X670732
del.icio.us logo Digg logo Reddit logo Twitter logo CiteULike logo Facebook logo Google logo Mendeley logo
  • Tweet Widget
  • Facebook Like
  • Google Plus One
  • Mendeley logo Mendeley

Jump to section

  • Top
  • Article
    • REFERENCE
  • Info
  • eLetters
  • PDF

More in this TOC Section

Out of Hours

  • Every home should have one: the critical role of the research librarian
  • Fakery and science
  • Viewpoint: Redundant subjectivity?
Show more Out of Hours

Viewpoint

  • The NHS: have the rivets popped?
  • Bring Hippocrates to the people and save the NHS
  • Are we preparing GP trainees for patient death?
Show more Viewpoint

Related Articles

Cited By...

Intended for Healthcare Professionals

BJGP Life

BJGP Open

 

@BJGPjournal's Likes on Twitter

 
 

British Journal of General Practice

NAVIGATE

  • Home
  • Current Issue
  • All Issues
  • Online First
  • Authors & reviewers

RCGP

  • BJGP for RCGP members
  • BJGP Open
  • RCGP eLearning
  • InnovAiT Journal
  • Jobs and careers

MY ACCOUNT

  • RCGP members' login
  • Subscriber login
  • Activate subscription
  • Terms and conditions

NEWS AND UPDATES

  • About BJGP
  • Alerts
  • RSS feeds
  • Facebook
  • Twitter

AUTHORS & REVIEWERS

  • Submit an article
  • Writing for BJGP: research
  • Writing for BJGP: other sections
  • BJGP editorial process & policies
  • BJGP ethical guidelines
  • Peer review for BJGP

CUSTOMER SERVICES

  • Advertising
  • Contact subscription agent
  • Copyright
  • Librarian information

CONTRIBUTE

  • BJGP Life
  • eLetters
  • Feedback

CONTACT US

BJGP Journal Office
RCGP
30 Euston Square
London NW1 2FB
Tel: +44 (0)20 3188 7400
Email: journal@rcgp.org.uk

British Journal of General Practice is an editorially-independent publication of the Royal College of General Practitioners
© 2023 British Journal of General Practice

Print ISSN: 0960-1643
Online ISSN: 1478-5242