“It Is A Carrot-Stick Model”: A Qualitative Study of Rural-Serving Clinician and Rural-Residing Veteran Perceptions of Requirements to Quit Smoking prior to Elective Surgery

Table 1

Self-described participant characteristics.

Patient characteristic ()	(%) or mean (SD)
Age (yr.)	61 (8.8)
Gender
Male	24 (92%)
Female	2 (8%)
Race
White/Caucasian	24 (92%)
More than one race	2 (8%)
Ethnicity
Hispanic or Latino	1 (4%)
Not Hispanic or Latino	25 (96%)
Highest education completed
High school	8 (31%)
Some college	12 (46%)
College	4 (15%)
Graduate school	2 (8%)
Employment
Full-time	2 (8%)
Part-time	1 (4%)
Self-employed	1 (4%)
Retired	16 (62%)
Disabled	6 (23%)
Annual income	$44,000 (27,000)
Marital status
Married	11 (42%)
Divorced	12 (46%)
Never married	3 (12%)
Smoking status
Current	11 (42%)
Cigarettes per day for current smokers	11 (7.3)
Former (no cigarettes within the past 30 days)	15 (58%)
History of e-cigarette use
Yes	4 (15%)
No	22 (85%)
Pack years	35 (21)
Surgery
Yes	10 (38%)
No	16 (62%)
Clinician characteristic ()	N (%) or Mean (SD)
Age (yr.)	46 (12)
Gender
Male	20 (53%)
Female	18 (47%)
Race
White/Caucasian	27 (71%)
Asian	5 (13%)
More than one race	3 (8%)
Other	1 (3%)
Missing response	2 (5%)
Ethnicity
Hispanic or Latino	0 (0%)
Not Hispanic or Latino	36 (95%)
Missing response	2 (5%)
Smoking status
Former	6 (16%)
Never	30 (79%)
Missing response	2 (5%)
Specialty
Surgery	10 (26%)
Primary care	23 (61%)
Pharmacy	4 (11%)
Other	1 (3%)
Role
Attending physician	20 (53%)
Resident physician	1 (3%)
Advanced practice provider	13 (34%)
Nurse (RN)	1 (3%)
Other clinic staff	2 (5%)
Student	1 (3%)
Years in practice	14 (10)
VA/non-VA
VA	28 (74%)
Non-VA	10 (26%)
Years at site	6.9 (6.3)