The effect of a hospital-based smoking cessation intervention on the continuous abstinence rate from smoking over 12 months in patients with cerebral infarction

Abstract

Objectives: The aim of this study was to investigate the effectiveness of a hospital-based smoking cessation intervention for increasing continuous abstinence rate from smoking in patients with cerebral infarction. Methods: One-hundred and two smokers with cerebral infarction who decided to quit smoking were enrolled in the smoking cessation intervention from December 2012 to February 2015. The smokers underwent six consecutive times of individual intervention with nurse specialist on smoking cessation including education on behavioral modification, counseling for withdrawal symptoms, and anti-smoking advice over a 12-month period. Results: Among the total participants, the continuous abstinence rate from smoking changed from 79.4% at 1 month to 60.8% at 12 months after discharge. The continuous abstinence rate from smoking after 12 months was 88.5% in participants who completed the entire program (6 times), while 51.3% in participants who did not complete the entire program (≤5 times) (P=0.001). After adjustment for general and smoking-related characteristics, complete implementation of hospital-based smoking cessation intervention was significantly associated with continuous abstinence from smoking after 12 months (odds ratio: 5.93; 95% confidence interval: 1.45-24.22). Conclusions: The hospital-based smoking cessation intervention might be effective for smoking cessation in patients with cerebral infarction, especially when the intervention was implemented thoroughly.