Smoking cessation in the elderly patient.

An older smoker tends to be asked less often to quit although he or she has much to gain from achieving a nonsmoking status. Multiple barriers may interfere with attempting to quit including nicotine withdrawal, doubted self-efficacy, other smokers in one's environment, or misperceptions of little gain from quitting. The physician is in a unique position to interact with the older smoker and through careful questioning, outline a quit smoking strategy that has the greatest chance for success. Every older smoker deserves a chance for increased quality as well as quantity in life.