Characterization of Tobacco Cessation Services, Pharmacotherapies, and Policies at Adolescent-serving Substance Use Treatment Facilities in 2023.

OBJECTIVES

Adolescents with substance use disorder report high rates of tobacco use. Despite recommendations for counseling and pharmacotherapies for tobacco cessation among adolescents, their use remains low. The objective of this study was to characterize the availability of tobacco cessation counseling and pharmacotherapies, as well as smoking and vaping policies, in adolescent-serving substance use treatment facilities in the United States.

METHODS

The present study analyzed facility-reported data from the 2023 National Substance Use and Mental Health Services Survey. Substance use treatment facilities serving adolescents only (ages 11-21) were compared with those serving both adolescents and adults on tobacco use screening, availability of tobacco cessation education/counseling and pharmacotherapies (nicotine replacement therapy, bupropion, and varenicline), and smoking and vaping policies.

RESULTS

Most adolescent-only facilities offered tobacco use screening (82.6% vs 82.8% in adult/adolescent facilities) and education/counseling for tobacco cessation (71.9% vs 70.0% in adult/adolescent facilities). Adolescent-only facilities were more likely than adult/adolescent facilities to prohibit onsite smoking (84.7% vs 33.1%, respectively, P < 0.001) or vaping (87.7% vs 41.9%, respectively, P < 0.001), yet less likely to offer tobacco cessation pharmacotherapies to patients (20.7% vs 45.5%, respectively, P < 0.001).

CONCLUSIONS

While most adolescent-only substance use treatment facilities offered tobacco cessation education or counseling and restricted tobacco use at their sites, they were less likely than adult/adolescent facilities to offer pharmacotherapy for tobacco cessation. This reflects a missed opportunity to offer robust options to treat tobacco use among adolescents with substance use disorders.