Few smokers hospitalized for heart attacks and other serious complications of cardiac disease get medication to help them quit smoking, according to a study reported by Reuters.
Researchers examined data on almost 37,000 smokers hospitalized with heart disease and found only about 8,300, or 23%, received a prescription for a smoking-cessation aid during their hospital stay.
“Hospitalizations are excellent opportunities for change,” he said, because hospitalized patients are highly motivated to improve their health, and so “a little extra support in the form of smoking cessation (drugs) could go a long way.”
