Physician advice to patients on e-cigarettes varies, reveals knowledge gaps, study shows
Whether you want to know about the safety of the devices -- which create an inhalable aerosol from heated liquid nicotine and flavoring -- or how to use them to quit smoking tobacco cigarettes, physicians range greatly in their responses to patients. That's one finding from a new study by researchers at the Stanford University School of Medicine who analyzed more than 500 online interactions between patients and doctors discussing e-cigarettes. The study will be published online Aug. 26 in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine . "Researchers have previously surveyed doctors about their knowledge and attitudes concerning e-cigarettes. In this study, we were curious about actual provider behavior -- the advice doctors gave in real patient interactions," said the study's senior author, Judith Prochaska, PhD, MPH, associate professor of medicine at the Stanford Prevention Research Center. "Within a novel online medical forum, we were able to observe the...