RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 Smoking cessation in acute medical units - what group of patients benefit the most?
JF European Respiratory Journal
JO Eur Respir J
FD European Respiratory Society
SP P4169
VO 44
IS Suppl 58
A1 Alexander Sarnowski
A1 Tamina Khalil
A1 William Fleming-Nouri
A1 Ka-Wing Ng
A1 Aimee Field
A1 Chakravorty Indranil
YR 2014
UL http://erj.ersjournals.com/content/44/Suppl_58/P4169.abstract
AB Background - 5% of smokers quit smoking with no intervention from healthcare professionals. The rate of successful cessation is known to peak at up to 78% post acute admission to hospital. This time is known to be key moment for the introduction of smoking cessation advice and must be utilized to help patients. However, do different groups of patients respond differently to brief intervention?Method - Smokers admitted to the Acute Medical Unit of St George's Hospital were questioned about their smoking habits and co-morbidities. A brief intervention, in the form of a interview with medical students was conducted and patients were given the DOH/NHS stop smoking handbook. Patients were followed up at one month to assess any change in their smoking habits.Results - 61 patients were recruited into this study. 67% were male with a mean age of 54 years. Cause of admission was 26% respiratory,15% cardiovascular, 21% Gastrointestinal,10% substance abuse and 28% other. Median number of cigarettes smoked was 10 a day (range 1 - 60), average fagerstrom test value was 3. At one month follow up 56% patients responded (n=32), 17% (n=3) have been smoke free with a further 28% (n=5) cutting down the number smoked a day. Those who benefited were younger (Average age 42), smoked less (average 10 a day) and had a lower fagerstorm test value (average of 2.63) compared to those who did not stop/reduce their smoking (57 years, 37 cigarettes smoked a day with a fagerstrom test value of 3.16)Conclusion - Brief intervention has been beneficial in motivating patients to consider smoking cessation. Those who benefit most from this form of intervention are more likely to be younger and smoke less cigarettes a day.