General hospital admission as an opportunity for smoking-cessation strategies: a clinical trial in Brazil

Abstract

Objective To compare the results of 6-month follow-ups for hospitalized patients who were divided into two groups of low- and high-intensity treatments for smoking cessation and compared to the results of standard hospital treatment. Methods A total of 2414 patients were screened. Two hundred thirty-seven current smokers were randomly assigned to high-intensity intervention (HII; 30-min motivational interview plus seven routine telephone calls after hospital discharge) or to low-intensity intervention (LII; 15-min counseling about the benefits of quitting) and 80 comprised the usual care (UC) group. Six months after hospital discharge, all participants were contacted by phone. The main outcome measure was smoking cessation. Results The smoking-cessation rates were 44.9%, 41.7% and 26.3% for the HII, LII and UC groups, respectively ( P = .03). The multivariable analysis identified the following variables which are associated with the failure to stop smoking: the absence of a tobacco-related disease (TRD), younger age and a low motivation for cessation at the initial contact. Conclusions There was a great difference between intervention and nonintervention. The LII had an impact similar to the HII. The variables associated with no smoking cessation demonstrate the need for more personalized interventions for smokers who present lower indexes of motivation, are younger and do not have smoking-related diseases.