Search

Background: Smoking causes blindness-related diseases. Eye-care providers are uniquely positioned to help their patients quit smoking. Aims: Using a pre-/postevaluation design, this study evaluated a web-based training in smoking cessation counseling targeting eye-care providers. Method: The training was developed based on the 3A1R protocol: "Ask about smoking, Advise to quit, Assess willingness to quit, and Refer to tobacco quitlines," and made available in the form of a web-based video presentation. Providers (n = 654) at four academic centers were invited to participate. Participants completed pretraining, posttraining, and 3-month follow-up surveys. Main outcomes were self-reported improvement in their motivation, confidence, and counseling practices at 3-month follow-up. Generalized linear mixed models for two time-points (pretraining and 3-month) were conducted for these outcomes. Results: A total of 113 providers (54.0% males) participated in the study (17.7% response rate). At the 3-month evaluation, 9.8% of participants reported improvement in their motivation. With respect to the 3A1R, 8% reported improvement in their confidence for Ask, 15.5% for Advise, 28.6% for Assess, and 37.8% for Refer. Similarly, 25.5% reported improvement in their practices for Ask, 25.5% for Advise, 37.2% for Assess, and 39.4% for Refer to tobacco quitlines (p < 0.001 for all except for Refer confidence p = 0.05). Discussion: Although participation rate was low, the program effectively improved providers' smoking cessation counseling practices. Conclusions: Including training in smoking cessation counseling in ophthalmology curriculums, and integrating the 3A1R protocol into the electronic medical records systems in eye-care settings, might promote smoking cessation practices in these settings.

Many disadvantaged students with refractive errors, such as myopia (nearsightedness) and hyperopia (farsightedness), do not have eyeglasses, and their reduced vision may impact reading proficiency. Providing eyeglasses may increase their reading success. This article reports the findings of a study in Baltimore City in which disadvantaged second and third graders were assessed for vision problems. Of 317 students, 182 were given glasses. Those who needed glasses were given two pairs, one for home and one for school, as well as replacements if glasses were lost or broken. School staff assisted in ensuring that students wore their glasses, storing them safely, and replacing glasses when necessary. Students who received glasses improved more on Woodcock reading measures than those who never needed glasses (ES = +0.16, p < 0.03). The study demonstrates the potential of providing eyeglasses to disadvantaged students who need them to improve their reading performance.