The Validity of Self‐reported Recent Smoking in Head and Neck Cancer Surgical Patients

Abstract

In this patient population, self-reported recent smoking yielded a high (39%) proportion of false-negatives, and even 24% remained false-negatives after allowing for other sources of nicotine exposure. This magnitude of underreporting combined with the importance of tobacco use to patient prognosis supports the need for routinely biochemically verifying recent tobacco use in self-reported nonsmokers within the clinical setting.