Effectiveness of a Smoking Cessation Intervention in a Mental Health Day Hospital

Summary

Background: Nicotine contained in tobacco is highly addictive and tobacco use is a major risk factor for cardiovascular and respiratory diseases. Every year, more than 8 million people die from tobacco use.

Smoking-related mortality is significantly higher in people with serious mental illness. Is estimated that half of all deaths among individuals with mental illnesses are attributable to tobacco use. People with serious mental illness have greater daily tobacco consumption, nicotine dependence, and smoking relapse. While significant progress has been made in reducing tobacco use within the general population, rates of tobacco use remain high among individuals with mental illness. Smoking cessation often requires numerous attempts by these people. Thus, smokers with mental health illnesses may find it more difficult to quit, although highly motivated to quit.

Smoking cessation during hospitalization (total or partial) is cost-effective, as it reduces hospital readmissions, and mortality, and improves smokers' quality of life. Available quitting aids are both safe and effective in supporting cessation in tobacco users with mental illness and stopping smoking is associated with an improvement in mental health.

The investigators aimed to evaluate the feasibility and efficacy of adding an intensive smoking intervention to the usual treatment for patients with psychiatric disorders attending a day hospital of a tertiary hospital.

Conditions

• Tobacco Use Disorder
• Smoking Cessation
• Mental Disorder

Interventions

BEHAVIORAL

Smoking cessation program

Participants will receive intensive treatment for smoking cessation during day hospital admission. The intervention is carried out individually and in an open-ended group. The treatment, provided by trained and multidisciplinary professionals (nursing, psychiatry, psychologist, occupational therapist, social work), includes psychological, psycho-educational support, and pharmacological treatment advice. The group intervention takes place once a week and is divided into six structured sessions that are repeated. Sessions include nicotine addiction and withdrawal, health consequences, benefits of quitting, motivation for change, triggers, coping responses, social support, decision making, pharmacological treatment advice and healthy lifestyle habits.

BEHAVIORAL

Placebo Comparator: Brief Counselling

Participants will receive brief counseling on smoking cessation during their hospital stay. This brief intervention is based on motivational techniques to increase motivation to reduce tobacco use or to initiate treatment.

Sponsors & Collaborators

• Hospital Clinic of Barcelona

  lead OTHER

Principal Investigators

• Antoni Gual, PhD, MD · Hospital Clinic of Barcelona

Study Design

Allocation

NON_RANDOMIZED

Purpose

TREATMENT

Masking

NONE

Model

SEQUENTIAL

Eligibility

Min Age

18 Years

Sex

ALL

Healthy Volunteers

No

Timeline & Regulatory

Start

2021-05-30

Primary Completion

2023-07-27

Completion

2024-07-30

Countries

• Spain

Study Locations