The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) released a recommendation on counseling and interventions to prevent tobacco use and tobacco-related disease in adults, including pregnant women. The USPSTF is an independent, volunteer panel of national experts in prevention and evidence-based medicine. The Task Force works to improve the health of all Americans by making evidence-based recommendations about clinical preventive services such as screenings, counseling services, and preventive medications.

The USPSTF statement, which was mirrored by the American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP) shortly after its release, recommends that clinicians ask all adults about tobacco use, advise them to stop using tobacco, and provide behavioral interventions and U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA)–approved medications and nicotine-replacement therapies (NRT’s) for cessation. Both groups also recommended that clinicians ask all pregnant women about tobacco use, advise them to stop using tobacco, and provide behavioral interventions for cessation. AAFP also concludes that the current evidence is insufficient to assess the balance of benefits versus harms of medications and NRT’s for tobacco cessation in pregnant women.

USPSTF (and echoed by AAFP) made an official statement on electronic cigarettes, vaping pens, and similar products for tobacco cessation purposes. The statement reads: current evidence is insufficient to recommend electronic nicotine delivery systems (ENDS) for tobacco cessation in adults, including pregnant women. AAFP recommends that clinicians direct patients who smoke tobacco to other cessation interventions with established effectiveness and safety.

Read the full USPSTF article HERE

Read AAFP’s recommendation HERE