Evidence map›Paper›PMID 29310657›Full record

ArticleBMC medical ethics2018

"Right to recommend, wrong to require"- an empirical and philosophical study of the views among physicians and the general public on smoking cessation as a condition for surgery.

Joar Björk, Niklas Juth, Niels Lynøe

Open access · goldAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in BMC medical ethics, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 5 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
5citing papers in PubMed
0.8field-weighted citation impact, top 28% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

5 citing papers in PubMed, 12 citations in OpenAlex.

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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

3 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.

Joar BjörkStockholm Centre for Healthcare Ethics (CHE), LIME, Karolinska Institutet, Tomtebodavägen 18 A, 171 77, Stockholm, Sweden. joar.bjork@ki.se.ORCID 0000-0001-7194-4875
Niklas JuthStockholm Centre for Healthcare Ethics (CHE), LIME, Karolinska Institutet, Tomtebodavägen 18 A, 171 77, Stockholm, Sweden.
Niels LynøeStockholm Centre for Healthcare Ethics (CHE), LIME, Karolinska Institutet, Tomtebodavägen 18 A, 171 77, Stockholm, Sweden.
Karolinska Institutet · SE

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundIn many countries, there are health care initiatives to make smokers give up smoking in the peri-operative setting. There is empirical evidence that this may improve some, but not all, operative outcomes. However, it may be feared that some support for such policies stems from ethically questionable opinions, such as paternalism or anti-smoker sentiments. This study aimed at investigating the support for a policy of smoking cessation prior to surgery among Swedish physicians and members of the general public, as well as the reasons provided for this.

methodsA random sample of general practitioners and orthopaedic surgeons (n = 795) as well as members of the general public (n = 485) received a mail questionnaire. It contained a vignette case with a smoking 57-year old male farmer with hip osteoarthritis. The patient had been recommended hip replacement therapy, but told that in order to qualify for surgery he needed to give up smoking four weeks prior to and after surgery. The respondents were asked whether making such qualifying demands is acceptable, and asked to rate their agreement with pre-set arguments for and against this policy.

resultsResponse rates were 58.2% among physicians and 53.8% among the general public. Of these, 83.9% and 86.6%, respectively, agreed that surgery should be made conditional upon smoking cessation. Reference to the peri-operative risks associated with smoking was the most common argument given. However, there was also strong support for the argument that such a policy is mandated in order to achieve long term health gains.

conclusionsThere is strong support for a policy of smoking cessation prior to surgery in Sweden. This support is based on considerations of peri-operative risks as well as the general long term risks of smoking. This study indicates that paternalistic attitudes may inform some of the support for peri-operative smoking cessation policies and that at least some respondents seem to favour a "recommendation strategy" vis-à-vis smoking cessation prior to surgery rather than a "requirement strategy". The normative reasons speak in favour of the "recommendation strategy".

Indexed as

Arthroplasty, Replacement, HipAttitude of Health PersonnelPublic OpinionSmokingSmoking CessationAdolescentAdultAgedAged, 80 and overAttitudeFemaleHealth Services AccessibilityHumansMaleMiddle AgedPaternalismGeneral practitionersOrthopedic surgeonsPhysician patient interactionPreventive medicinePublic health ethicsResponsibility for healthSmokingSmoking cessation

Identifiers

PMID29310657
PMCPMC5759185
OpenAlexW2783273454

What OpenQuestion holds

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LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.