Understanding cancer patients' desire to quit tobacco without assistance: A mixed-methods study.

While many cancer patients who use tobacco try to quit post-diagnosis, some prefer to quit without using tobacco treatment, despite evidence against unassisted quit attempts. This study aimed to understand the rationale for some cancer patients' desire to quit tobacco without assistance. Thirty-five adult cancer patients who currently used tobacco and declined tobacco treatment because of the desire to quit unassisted provided data via a standardized questionnaire and a semi-structured interview.

The Natural Trajectory of Smoking Cessation Among Cancer Patients Who Want to Quit "On Their Own": A Mixed-Methods, Longitudinal Study.

Introduction: Many cancer patients who smoke cigarettes want to quit. Unfortunately, many of these cancer patients prefer to quit without the aid of pharmacotherapy or behavioral counseling. The teachable moment of cancer diagnosis might still position these cancer patients to make meaningful changes in their smoking behavior, but no study has documented the trajectory of smoking cessation outcomes among cancer patients who want to quit "on their own.

Availability and Accessibility of Cancer Care Delivery Approaches to Reduce Financial Toxicity of Rural and Urban Cancer Patients in Kentucky.

Background: Cancer care delivery approaches to address financial toxicity among cancer patients are not well-established, especially in rural communities.

Objectives: To identify healthcare staff perspectives of financial toxicity experienced by cancer patients and to examine staff- and systems-level cancer care delivery approaches for addressing financial toxicity, with a focus on rural cancer survivors in Kentucky.

Methods: We conducted key informant interviews using a semistructured interview guide with cancer center staff who provided financial navigation and/or assistance to oncology patients and their caregivers at 15 cancer centers in Kentucky.

The State of the Science on Cancer Diagnosis as a "Teachable Moment" for Smoking Cessation: A Scoping Review.

Introduction: Theoretically, a cancer diagnosis has the potential to spur health behavior changes in physical activity, diet, substance use, medication adherence, and the like. The Teachable Moment heuristic is a parsimonious, transtheoretical framework for understanding the conditions under which behavior change might occur, with constructs that include affective, cognitive, and social factors. Application of the Teachable Moment to smoking cessation after cancer diagnosis might aid selection of predictors in observational studies and inform how to optimally design interventions to promote quit attempts and sustain abstinence, as many smoking cessation interventions for cancer survivors do not yield positive outcomes.

A descriptive study of cervical cancer survivors' persistent smoking behavior and perceived barriers to quitting.

Objective: Cervical cancer survivors (CCS) tend to smoke cigarettes at rates much higher than other cancer survivors and women in the general population. However, few studies take a deep dive into the smoking behavior of cervical cancer survivors and none focus on the barriers they experience related to smoking cessation. This study aimed to describe CCS' tobacco use characteristics, quit attempts, and barriers to quit success.

Effect of cocaine use on outcomes in traumatic brain injury.

Context: Animal and molecular studies have shown that cocaine exerts a neuroprotective effect against cerebral ischemia.

Aims: To determine if the presence of cocaine metabolites on admission following traumatic brain injury (TBI) is associated with better outcomes.

Settings And Design: Level-1 trauma center, retrospective cohort.

Midlevel practitioners can safely place intracranial pressure monitors.

Background: Neurosurgical coverage is a challenge for many trauma centers. Midlevel practitioners (MLPs) can extend coverage by sharing the workload. Our objective was to determine whether the complication rates for intracranial pressure (ICP) monitor placement were similar between neurosurgeons and MLPs.

Long-term functional and echocardiographic assessment after penetrating cardiac injury: 5-year follow-up results.

Background: There is almost no data describing the long-term functional outcome of patients after penetrating cardiac injury.

Methods: A retrospective study at a Level I trauma center from 2000 to 2009.

Results: Sixty-three patients had penetrating cardiac injuries from 28 stabbings and 35 gunshots.

The utility of bronchoscopy after inhalation injury complicated by pneumonia in burn patients: results from the National Burn Repository.

There are no guidelines to determine when bronchoscopy is appropriate in patients with inhalation injury complicated by pneumonia. We reviewed the National Burn Repository from 1998 to 2007 to determine if there is any difference in outcome in burn patients with inhalation injury and pneumonia who did and did not undergo bronchoscopy. Three hundred fifty-five patients with pneumonia did not undergo bronchoscopy, 173 patients underwent one bronchoscopy, and 96 patients underwent more than one bronchoscopy.

Efficacy of prophylactic inferior vena cava filter placement in bariatric surgery.

Background: To determine whether prophylactic placement of an inferior vena cava (IVC) filter in bariatric patients deemed to be at high risk is effective in reducing their risk of pulmonary embolism. The study was performed at a bariatric center in a community hospital.

Methods: This was a retrospective study of all patients in the Hurley Bariatric Center database who had undergone surgery from April 2000 to June 2006.