Automated Intervention Shows Significant Increase in Smoking Cessation Behavior

Researchers at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) have discovered that a latest automated tobacco treatment system, when integrated into routine pediatric care, led to a 3.9% absolute increase in smoking cessation among mothers. This population-level impact could potentially help tens of thousands of parents quit each year and protect hundreds of thousands of children from the dangers of secondhand smoke exposure.

The study, published in Pediatrics,¹ demonstrates how technology can effectively scale preventive interventions without increasing the workload for clinical staff.

The Impact of Secondhand Smoke

More than 40% of children in the U.S. Are exposed to secondhand smoke, increasing their risk of respiratory infections, asthma flare-ups, and premature death. When parents quit smoking, they not only improve their own life expectancy by an average of 10 years but also reduce the likelihood of their children becoming smokers later in life.²

Addressing Barriers to Cessation

Many parents who smoke may not have their own primary care physician, but they regularly seek medical care for their children. Researchers have been working to implement the Clinical Effort Against Secondhand Smoke Exposure (CEASE) intervention to provide routine access to cessation resources during pediatric primary care visits.

“We’ve created a system that removes the traditional barriers, such as provider time, prescribing challenges, and workflow burden,” said lead study author Brian Jenssen, MD, MSHP, Assistant Professor of Pediatrics at the University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine and a pediatrician at CHOP. “By automating the screening, motivation, and connection to evidence-based treatment, we’re reaching parents at scale during a moment when they’re already focused on their child’s health.”

Study Findings

“Millions of parents who smoke attend pediatric visits annually, so even a small but noticeable decrease in smoking cessation can translate to tens of thousands of additional individuals who quit each year, which protects hundreds of thousands of children from secondhand smoke exposure,” said co-senior study author Alexander Fiks, MD, a pediatrician and the Director of Clinical Futures and the Possibilities Project: Innovation in Pediatric Primary Care at CHOP.

Researchers conducted a retrospective study of parents whose children received care across 12 pediatric practices in a cluster-randomized trial between June 2021 and August 2024.⁴ An automated EHR-linked parent tobacco treatment system was implemented at six practices, while the other six only implemented screenings without follow-up. The study analyzed self-reported smoking cessation rates among parents who reported smoking during the study period.

The analysis included data from more than 55,000 parents. The study found that cessation rates were 3.9% higher for those receiving care with the system compared with those who did not receive the prompts and connections to evidence-based treatments. This increase in cessation behavior was observed only in mothers who participated.

Among fathers who smoked, there was no difference in smoking cessation rates. The system required no additional training for clinical staff and was implemented within existing EHR workflows, making it readily scalable to other pediatric health systems.

Resources for Smoking Cessation

The tobacco treatment programs offered included the PA Free Quitline, a free, evidence-based tobacco cessation service available to all Pennsylvanians.²

Publication Details: Jenssen et al, An EHR-based tobacco treatment system for parents in pediatric primary care, PEDIATRICS (2026). DOI: 10.1542/peds.2025-073934

Source: Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia³

Citation: Automated intervention shows significant increase in smoking cessation behavior (2026, March 17) retrieved 17 March 2026 from https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-03-automated-intervention-significant-cessation-behavior.html

1. https://www.chop.edu/news/automated-smoking-interventions-offered-parents-through-pediatric-primary-care-may-curb-tobacco-habits
2. https://policylab.chop.edu/project/helping-parents-quit-smoking-pediatric-settings
3. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-03-automated-intervention-significant-cessation-behavior.html
4. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC12391990/