Smoking cessation: a four-step plan to help older patients quit.

Smokers aged 50 years and older are a vulnerable group of patients, who are likely to have ailments that are complicated by smoking. They can derive significant health benefits from quitting, even though they probably have smoked for many years and are highly addicted. With older patients making multiple office visits each year, doctors can play a pivotal role in helping older smokers to quit. By following a four-step approach--ask about smoking, advise to quit, assist the patient in developing a quitting plan, and arrange for follow-up--physicians can significantly improve the health of their older patients who smoke.