Smoking Characteristics and Readiness-to-Quit Status Among Smokers Attending Preoperative Assessment Clinic – A Prospective Cohort Study

BACKGROUND: Perioperative smoking is associated with an increased incidence of general postoperative morbidity and mortality. The perioperative period is recognized as an important “teachable moment” that can motivate patients to adopt health changing behaviors. OBJECTIVE: In this study, we aimed to determine the prevalence of smokers among elective surgical patients in an Asian tertiary hospital. We also investigated their smoking characteristics, previous quitting attempts, readiness-to-quit status as well as knowledge of smoking-related postoperative complications. METHODS: We conducted a single-center prospective cohort study among all patients who attended a preoperative assessment clinic within a 2-month period (August to September 2020) using a preoperative smoking questionnaire. RESULTS: A total of 3362 patients participated in the study, of which 348 (10.4%) were current smokers. More than half (65.6%) of the smokers had previously attempted to quit smoking, with most (78%) having made more than one attempt. Forty-nine percent of current smokers were in the pre-contemplation stage of quitting and thirty-one percent were in the contemplation stage. Only twenty-one percent were in the preparation stage of quitting. Thirty-eight percent of patients recognized the importance of smoking cessation perioperatively but only twenty-eight percent were confident of quitting perioperatively. Less than sixty percent of smokers were aware of at least one type of smoking-related postoperative complication. Less than half of the patients (45%) had ever received advice on perioperative smoking cessation from the surgeons. CONCLUSION: A thorough understanding of smokers’ smoking characteristics, barriers to quit and readiness-to-quit status are crucial to establishing a successful multidisciplinary perioperative smoking cessation program. Counselling should address knowledge deficits and be tailored to a patient’s stage-of-change in order to seize this precious perioperative “teachable moment”.