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Background: A cross-sectional study was conducted to provide a snapshot of smoking behavior among staff and patients at a major metropolitan hospital in Melbourne. Methods: Patients and staff were surveyed using a questionnaire exploring demographics, nicotine dependence (Fagerstrom test), readiness to quit, and preference for smoking cessation options. Results: A total of 1496 people were screened within 2 hours; 1,301 participated (1,100 staff, 199 patients). Mean age was 42 years, 68% were female. There were 113 (9%) current smokers and 326 (25%) ex-smokers. Seven percent of the staff were current smokers compared with 19% of the patients. The Fagerstrom test showed that 47% of patients who smoked were moderately nicotine dependent compared with 21% of staff. A third of the staff who smoked did not anticipate health problems related to smoking. Most patients (79%) who smoked disagreed that their current health problems were related to smoking. Although more than half of the current smokers preferred pharmacotherapy, one in two of them did not prefer behavior counseling; with consistent results among staff and patients. Multivariate analyses showed that patients were three times more likely (odds ratio 3.0, 95% confidence interval 1.9-4.7) to smoke than staff. Conclusion: This study reports lower prevalence of smoking among hospital staff compared with national data. It also indicates an under-appreciation of health effects of smoking, and a preference not to use conventional methods of quitting. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The Thrombolysis in Myocardial Infarction (TIMI) risk score, Global Register of Acute Coronary Events (GRACE) risk score, and the Controlled Abciximab and Device Investigation to Lower Late Angioplasty Complications (CADILLAC) risk score are validated predictors of secondary events and death after an acute coronary syndrome (ACS). In our study, we sought to examine the predictability of the TIMI, GRACE, and the CADILLAC risk scores in women undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention for ST-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) for in-hospital, 1-year major cardiac events, nonmajor cardiac events, and mortality. A limited number of studies examining the secondary risk scores for use after STEMI in women have been conducted. Most studies have been conducted in both men and women without separating out the predictability in women in regard to the various risk scores. Patients and methods: In a subanalysis of women from a larger study of both men and women with STEMI, a 1-year follow up of 77 women with STEMI was undertaken using a retrospective approach and comparing the TIMI, GRACE, and CADILLAC risk scores for in-hospital and 1-year outcomes of major cardiac events, nonmajor cardiac events, and death. The predictive value of the models was assessed with evaluation of the area under the curve in receiver operating-characteristic analysis. Results: The study revealed that risk stratification of female patients with STEMI early after presentation using the TIMI risk score or after angiography using the CADILLAC risk score may provide important prognostic information and enable accurate identification of high-risk patients. Conclusion: Though limited by sample size and retrospective analysis, our study provided evidence into the validity of using existing secondary risk tools in women. Further studies are needed to determine the risk score that is most predictive for women presenting with STEMI and treated with percutaneous coronary intervention. It may be useful to incorporate the risk scores into clinical practice to guide short- and long-term follow-up after STEMI in women as a preventive strategy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]