[NYAPRS Enews] Study: Smoking Cessation Treatments Work for People w Psych Disabilities

[Harvey Rosenthal]

Smoking Cessation Treatments Work And Are Safe For People With Severe
Mental Illness

In a study published today in the journal Addiction, researchers have
determined that treatment for smoking dependence is as effective among
people with severe mental illnesses as it is for the general population.
Importantly, they also found that offering such treatments does not
appear to cause deterioration in mental health.

This is good news: people with severe mental illnesses (SMI) such as
schizophrenia have some of the worst physical health of any section of
the population. They are two to three times more likely to smoke, and
smoking-related illnesses contribute significantly to their high
sickness and death rates. Mortality rates for those with SMI are three
times that of the rest of the population. 

Although treatment for smoking dependence would improve the physical
health of people with SMI, the medical community has traditionally
ignored health promotion and worried that such treatments would worsen
people's mental states. 

The authors brought together the most rigorous evidence on smoking
cessation treatment among people with SMI. They were able to determine
the effectiveness of smoking cessation treatment and chart any
predictable adverse effects. In general, people with SMI responded well
to pharmaceutical and behavioural treatments, which doubled their chance
of quitting. 

Because most of the studies focused on people with well controlled
psychiatric conditions, it was not possible to state how well people
with acute mental illness (such as those who have experienced recent
hospitalisation) would respond to smoking cessation treatment.

Professor Simon Gilbody from the University of York & Hull York Medical
School, who co-authored the review, commented that "schizophrenia is a
devastating condition which causes people to die 25 years earlier than
the rest of the population. This is a huge health inequality, and it is
largely due to smoking-related illness rather than schizophrenia
itself."

Dr Lindsay Banham, who led the review, added "what this review suggests
is that quit-smoking treatments like nicotine replacement therapy may
work just as well for people with disorders like schizophrenia. Smoking
by those with SMI has largely been ignored and people with schizophrenia
are not consistently offered treatment or services. We found evidence
that smoking cessation treatments are effective and safe. We hope our
research leads to better services for this neglected population."

Professor Gilbody concluded, "Despite huge expansion in smoking
cessation services in recent years, people with severe mental illness
have been left behind. The challenges for health services are to ensure
people with schizophrenia are offered these treatments, and that
services reflect the needs of this population.''

Banham L. and Gilbody S. Smoking cessation in severe mental illness:
What works? Addiction 2010; 105: doi:10.1111/j.1360-0443.2010.02946.x

For a full text copy of the article please contact: Molly Jarvis,
Editorial Manager, Addiction, molly at addictionjournal.org, tel +44 (0)20
7848 0014 or Jean O'Reilly, Deputy Editorial Manager, Addiction,
jean at addictionjournal.org, tel +44 (0)20 7848 0853

Professor Simon Gilbody may be reached through the press office at the
University of York: email David Garner at dcg501 at york.ac.uk or
pressoffice at york.ac.uk, or telephone 01904 432153.

Addiction (www.addictionjournal.org) is a monthly international
scientific journal publishing more than 2000 pages every year. Owned by
the Society for the Study of Addiction, it has been in continuous
publication since 1884. Addiction is the top journal in the field of
substance abuse and is number one in the 2008 ISI Journal Citation
Reports (c) Ranking in the Substance Abuse Category. Addiction publishes
peer-reviewed research reports on alcohol, illicit drugs and tobacco,
bringing together research conducted within many different disciplines,
as well as editorials and other debate pieces.

 

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