Abbreviations: CHD, coronary heart disease; FTND, Fagerström Test for Nicotine Dependence; NRT, nicotine replacement therapy.A table elsewhere in this issue shows conventional and Système International (SI) units and conversion factors for many substances. Intervention Study for Smoking Cessation in Diabetic PatientsA randomized controlled trial in both clinical and primary care settingsOBJECTIVE -To evaluate the effectiveness of a nurse-managed smoking cessation intervention in diabetic patients. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS -This randomized controlled clinical trialinvolved 280 diabetic smokers (age range 17-84 years) who were randomized either into control (n = 133) or intervention (n = 147) groups at 12 primary care centers and 2 hospitals located in Navarre, Spain. The intervention consisted of a 40-min nurse visit that included counseling, education, and contracting information (a negotiated cessation date). The followup consisted of telephone calls, letters, and visits. The control group received the usual care for diabetic smokers. Baseline and 6-month follow-up measurements included smoking status (self-reported cessation was verified by urine cotinine concentrations), mean number of cigarettes smoked per day, and stage of change.RESULTS -At the 6-month follow-up, the smoking cessation incidence was 17.0% in the intervention group compared with 2.3% in the usual care group, which was a 14.7% difference (95% CI 8.2-21.3%). Among participants who continued smoking, a significant reduction was evident in the average cigarette consumption at the 6-month follow-up. The mean number of cigarettes per day decreased from 20.0 at baseline to 15.5 at 6 months for the experimental group versus from 19.7 to 18.1 for the control group (P Ͻ 0.01).CONCLUSIONS -A structured intervention managed by a single nurse was shown to be effective in changing the smoking behavior of diabetic patients.

This study found a beneficial effect of motivational interviewing on nurses' smoking cessation. The intervention was acceptable for nurses and a number of aspects were identified that need to be considered prior to conducting a larger scale in order to optimise the intervention. Using MI might be a novel approach to the problem of health professionals who smoke.

Recurrence is a distressing experience for survivors and families because they have to face again psychosocial effects of cancer, such as uncertainty, distress and concerns about death. Care should not be addressed simply to survivors, but should include the general well-being of families beyond their survivorship and support to manage better psychosocial issues occurring when a member has a recurrence of cancer.

Despite the growing literature on workplace smoking policies, few studies have focused on the implementation of such policies in university settings. Smoking in the workplace is still very common in many countries, including Spain. While the law is about to change and more non-smoking policies are to be implemented, it is not clear what kind of restrictions Spanish workers would find acceptable. This study investigated perceived exposure to environmental tobacco smoke (ETS), passive smoking risks beliefs and attitudes towards smoking at the University of Navarra (Spain). A questionnaire was sent by E-mail to 641 randomly selected employees and a response rate of 70.4% was obtained. The survey results suggest that 27.3% of the university employees were smokers and 26.6% were exposed to ETS on a daily basis. The majority of respondents (81.7%) supported a restrictive non-smoking policy. Acceptance among active smokers was significantly lower (59.2 versus 89.3%). Smoking prohibition with the provision of smoking areas was the most favored option (46.9%). Results suggest that employees are ready to restrict smoking in the university, but there was not enough support for a total ban. Employers considering adopting a ban on smoking should be encouraged to conduct a similar survey to identify potential barriers to policy implementation.

There is some evidence that health professionals' performance of health promotion activities is strongly influenced by their own health beliefs and health-related behaviours. In the light of the current trend in health policies in Scotland and elsewhere towards a health promotion focus, this study sought to gain a description of, and to identify an association between, health beliefs and health-related behaviours among a sample of Scottish health visitors. A questionnaire was sent to randomly selected health visitors in a large Scottish city. Respondents reported behaviours they believed to be important to health, e.g. not driving under the influence of alcohol, dental care and smoking. While the health visitors' own performance of some health-related behaviours, such as smoking, was associated with their health beliefs, others such as drinking coffee, were not. Health visitors could be advised to reconsider some of their health beliefs, in particular those related to areas where the government has focused its attention.