GP Scoops Award for Study into Smokers’ Ageing Lungs
24th June 2009
A Hertfordshire GP who encouraged patients to
quit smoking by telling them their true “lung age” has won a
prestigious award from the Royal College of General Practitioners
(RCGP).
Dr Gary Parkes carried out the study in five
GP practices in Hertfordshire, involving 561 smokers over the age
of 35. After using spirometry tests to estimate their lung
age, he found that giving smokers this information significantly
improved the likelihood of their quitting smoking.
The results showed that 38 people (13.6%) out
of 280 smokers had successfully stopped smoking for 12 months after
being told the true age of their lungs; compared to 18 (6.4%) in
the control group of 281 people. Patients’ saliva was also
tested to prove that they really had stopped smoking. Dr
Parkes was assisted in the findings by Professor Trisha Greenhalgh
from University College London; Mark Griffin, Lecturer in Medical
Statistics at UCL; and Dr Richard Dent, Consultant Chest Physician
at QE II Hospital in Hertfordshire.
The study was published in the British
Medical Journal 1 in March 2008 and has won the
RCGP Research Paper of the Year Award. Dr Parkes will be
presented with a cheque for £1250 by RCGP President Professor David
Haslam and Chris Round, Managing Director of Merck Sharp &
Dohme Limited at a special dinner in London on Wednesday 24
June. He will share the award with his co-authors Professor
Trisha Greenhalgh, Professor of Primary Care at University College
London (UCL); Mark Griffin, Lecturer in Medical Statistics at UCL
Department of Primary Care and Population Health; and Dr Richard
Dent, Consultant Chest Physician at QEII Hospital in
Hertfordshire.
The Research Paper of the Year Award is run by
the RCGP each year to raise awareness of high quality studies
taking place within the general practice setting and to encourage
more GPs to become actively involved in research. A panel of
peers, independent of the sponsor, chose the winning
paper.
Professor David Haslam, RCGP President, said:
“There are approximately 87,000 tobacco-related deaths in England
alone every year. This award highlights why research in general
practice is so important as this study suggests that we could make
a significant dent in that figure and help people to live much
longer, healthier lives.
“The RCGP would also like to thank
pharmaceutical company Merck Sharp & Dohme Limited for
sponsoring this important award for the third year running.”
Dr Gary Parkes, lead-author of the study,
said: “It is a great privilege to win this award and a tribute to
the hard work of the team involved in the Step2quit research study.
I hope that many more smokers can benefit from knowledge about
their lung health and that these results can be used to update the
evidence for smoking cessation guidance and used to expand the
intervention into a nationwide programme. Also, I want to thank The
Health Foundation who funded the two year research project .”
Mr Chris Round from Merck Sharp & Dohme
Limited, also commented: “We are proud to support the Research
Paper of the Year Award. It is encouraging to know that a large
amount of high quality research is taking place within general
practice and primary care. We fully support the aims and objectives
of this award and hope that even more general practitioners and
members of the primary care team will become actively involved in
research.”
Professor Greg Rubin, RCGP Chair of the
Research Paper of the Year Award, who led the team of judges, added
“Helping people to stop smoking is a high priority for GPs and the
NHS. This study gives us a measure, lung age, that is really useful
to GPs because it can easily be done in our surgeries and will
double the number of quitters”.
There will be a photocall at 5pm on 24 June
2009 at the Royal College of General Practitioners, with the
winning authors. Photos will also be available from the RCGP
Press Office after this date.
Professor Greenhalgh will also be receiving an
award for another study Patients’ attitudes to the summary care
record and HealthSpace: qualitative
study2, which also appeared in the BMJ,
and has been highly commended by this year’s Research Paper of the
Year Award judges.
FURTHER INFORMATION
RCGP Press office – 020 7344 3137/36/35
Out of hours: 07885 958 632
press@rcgp.org.uk
NOTES TO EDITORS
1. ‘Effect
on smoking quit rate of telling patients their lung age: the
Step2quit randomised controlled trial’ Parkes G, Greenhalgh T,
Griffin M, Dent R. BMJ, published 6 March 2008 doi.
10.1136/bmj.39503.582396.25
2. ‘Patients’
attitudes to the summary care record and HealthSpace: qualitative
study’ Greenhalgh T, Wood GW, Bratan T, Stramer K, Hinder
S. BMJ, published 29 May 2008 doi.10.1136/bmj.a114
3. Dr Parkes is a practising GP at The Limes
Surgery in Hoddesdon, Hertfordshire