An Exploration of Smoking Patterns Among People with Serious Mental Illness Attending an Outpatient Clinic in Qatar.

Content Provider	Europe PMC
Author	Zolezzi, Monica Al-Rawi, Safa Eltorki, Yassin
Copyright Year	2022
Abstract	BackgroundStudies have shown that tobacco use is exceptionally high in people affected with serious mental illness (SMI). Many countries worldwide have observed a decrease in the prevalence of tobacco smoking; however, the smoking rates among people with SMI have declined much less than in those without mental illness. To date, no nationally representative data have examined the smoking patterns or the sociocultural factors that influence smoking among SMI people in Qatar.MethodsA retrospective medical chart review was conducted to collect patient demographics, psychiatric and medical comorbidities, medications, the most recently documented smoking status and if on tobacco cessation treatment. A descriptive and inferential analysis of the data was performed.ResultsOf 346 patients included in the cohort, 196 (56.6%) had their smoking status documented, of which 72 (36.7%) were “currently smoking.” Significantly more males than females were “current smokers” (62.9% versus 15.0%, respectively, p < 0.001). Significantly more patients with psychotic disorders than those with any other SMI were “current smokers”, and this difference was statistically significant (p = 0.006). Positive and significant associations with current smoking were found for the male gender, psychotic disorders, and high levels (≥6.2 mmol/L) of total cholesterol. Only 12 (16.7%) of current smokers were receiving smoking cessation treatment.ConclusionMore than half of a sample of people with SMI attending outpatient psychiatric services in Qatar had documented smoking status. Still, only a few current smokers were on smoking cessation treatment. Efforts are needed to implement smoking cessation strategies in this population.
Page Count	8
ISSN	11766328
Volume Number	18
PubMed Central reference number	PMC9743978
PubMed reference number	36518535
Journal	Neuropsychiatric Disease and Treatment [Neuropsychiatr Dis Treat]
e-ISSN	11782021
DOI	10.2147/NDT.S385970
Language	English
Publisher	Dove
Publisher Date	2022-12-07
Access Restriction	Open
Rights License	This work is published by Dove Medical Press Limited, and licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License. The full terms of the License are available at http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/. The license permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. © 2022 Zolezzi et al.
Subject Keyword	smoking smoking cessation serious mental illness Qatar
Content Type	Text
Resource Type	Article
Subject	Biological Psychiatry Psychiatry and Mental Health