Ambulatory Care Visits made by Current Tobacco Users with Depression

Audience: Public health and clinical professionals (doctors, nurses, psychologists, etc.) Key Points: Data from the 2006-2009 National Ambulatory Medical Care Survey (NAMCS) were utilized to estimate the weighted percent of office-based physicians visits made by current tobacco users with diagnosed depression. The NAMCS is a national probability sample survey of outpatient visits made to office-based physicians and measures health care utilization across a variety of health care providers. From 2006-2009, approximately 1.9 billion adult outpatient visits were made to office-based physicians, of which approximately 57.8 million were made by current tobacco users with diagnosed depression. Of visits made by current tobacco users, approximately 16.8% indicated current depression compared to 10.7% of visits made by those who were not currently using tobacco. Of the 16.8% of visits by tobacco users with depression, 23.0% and 20.2% of visits indicated that tobacco cessation counseling and antidepressant medications were provided, respectively. The presentation will highlight patient and physician characteristics associated with providing treatment at outpatient visits made by current tobacco users with diagnosed depression. Educational experience: Through a presentation on data from the National Ambulatory Medical Care Survey (NAMCS), participants will learn about cessation services that are received during outpatient visits made by patients who currently use tobacco and have diagnosed depression. Benefits: This information will provide an understanding of ambulatory care utilization patterns for this population and how visits may align with PHS guidelines for cessation.