Views and Attitudes of Patients in Mental Facilities Regarding Smoking

Abstract

Introduction:Smoking rates amongst people with a mental health disorder are significantly higher than in the general population and there is growing evidence to show a strong association between smoking and mental health disorders. The aim of the present study was to investigate views and attitudes of mental patients regarding smoking.Material and Methods:The sample is composed of 356 patients treated in the Attica Psychiatric Hospital (a.k.a. “Dafni”) as well as in other Units affiliated with the Hospital. The ‘Smoking in psychiatric hospitals-a survey of patients’ views’ questionnaire was used in the form of semi-structured interviews. The PASW 18 (SPSS Inc.) package was used for the statistical analysis and statistical significance was set to p= 0.05.Results:Overall, 40% of the participants were in-patients, the rest being treated in other settings, the average length of hospital stay was 4.4 years, and the most common diagnosis (61.5.%) was schizophrenia (F20, according to ICD-10), while almost all of the participants (97.5%) were smokers. Most patients (58.8%) said they had had a hard time trying to quit smoking although they had sufficient information and encouragement (≈90%); they also reported that watching the staff smoking did not affect them inasmuch as watching other patients smoking (41 % vs 54.8%). 75.5% of the patients felt that they had no particular difficulty to quit smoking. Men smoked significantly more cigarettes per day compared to females (36.70 vs 30.82, p=0.002). There were no significant differences among males and females regarding previous attempts to quit smoking. Information gathered from such studies should be taken into account when designing systematic smoking management plans in mental institutions.Conclusion:Although almost all mental patients smoke, they seem to be receptive to quitting smoking, since two thirds of them have already tried to quit, but one-third of the patients find smoking a little or not at all dangerous.

Smoking Ban in Psychiatric Inpatient Unit: An Iranian Study on the Views and Attitudes of the Mental Health Staff and Psychiatric Patients

“…Most of staff and patients believed smoking is dangerous for their physical health. Similarly, to other studies in other countries, psychiatric patients agreed that smoking is a dangerous and harmful habit [ 20 – 22 ].…”

“…Most of our studied population, 87% of staffs and 82% of patients, believe that an obligatory no-smoking policy is unfair to nicotine-dependent patients. Although the studies of Dickens and Kourakos show that most patients agree with smoking rules and that the staff should encourage them to quit smoking, they state that the staff should avoid smoking in front of the patients [ 22 , 23 ].…”

“…Other studies show that some sociodemographic factors such as age, income, sex, and education correlated with the patients' attitudes towards smoking cessation [ 22 , 23 ].…”

“…The study suggests that patients like to quit smoking but they need help to do so, due to the fact that they cannot quit by themselves. Other studies show that most of the patients agreed that it is too hard for them quit smoking, and a smoking room is not a good choice for them because these rooms will make it difficult for them to quit smoking [ 8 , 22 , 23 ].…”

Τhe Relationship between Smoking and Emotional Intelligence in Patients with Coronary Artery Disease

“…The Smoking in psychiatric hospitals-a survey of patients' views questionnaire was used [27]. This questionnaire includes the following sections:…”