Abstract
The aim of this retrospective cohort study was to assess documented nicotine use history, withdrawal, and intervention with nicotine replacement therapy (NRT) for patients admitted to a quaternary children’s hospital who tested positive for cotinine. Patients tested positive for cotinine during 26 of 220 (12%) admissions in which cotinine testing was done. The electronic medical records (EMRs) of these 26 admissions (25 eligible patients; one patient admitted twice) were reviewed for documentation of tobacco product use history, cotinine urine test results, nicotine-related withdrawal symptoms, and prescription of NRT. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics. Most patients were admitted for overdose or intentional ingestion. 25 of 26 (96%) had tobacco use history documented, and eight (32%) had incongruent documentation. Two patients (50%) with documented nicotine withdrawal were prescribed NRT. This study illustrates missed opportunities to engage patients in addressing tobacco use.
Author ORCID Identifier
0000-0002-3610-5440
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 4.0 License
Recommended Citation
Schmuhl, Kelsey K.; Golec, Alexander S.; Bonny, Andrea E.; Manos, Brittny E.; Merianos, Ashley L.; Stull, Samuel W.; and Ebersole, Ashley M.
(2025)
"Cotinine Testing as a Component of Screening for Tobacco use in a Pediatric Hospital,"
Health Behavior Research:
Vol. 8:
No.
1.
https://doi.org/10.4148/2572-1836.1284
