Tobacco advertisements in physicians' offices: a pilot study of physician attitudes

A pilot study evaluated the feasibility of a campaign to eliminate magazines advertising cigarettes from doctors' office waiting rooms. Only six of 51 waiting rooms visited did not contain cigarette ads. Only 25 per cent of physicians interviewed would participate in a subscription-cancellation campaign; they expressed doubt that this would influence patients' smoking behavior. This suggests that such a campaign will fail unless it is possible to change physicians' beliefs in its effectiveness.