Tobacco use is related to 440,000 deaths each year, making it the leading cause of preventable death and disease in the U.S. Though tobacco use declined from 43% in 1965 to 18% in 2014 among the general U.S. population, tobacco use remains high among several vulnerable subpopulations, in particular, residents of rural areas. Primary care is an important resource in tobacco prevention, but little is known about the degree to which rural primary care providers counsel or prescribe medications for smoking cessation. Using data from the National Ambulatory Medical Care Survey, we compared rural and urban rates and predictors of tobacco counseling and treatment medication prescribing by primary care providers.

Publications

• Use of Electronic Health Records to Manage Tobacco Screening and Treatment in Rural Primary Care
  Journal Article
  Maine Rural Health Research Center
  Date: 09/2021
  This study compares the performance of rural and urban primary care providers in adhering to evidence-based smoking-related standards of care and assesses the degree to which electronic health record use was related to improved adherence to these standards in the practice of rural versus urban providers.