Promoting Smoking Cessation in Patients with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease - a Multicentre Community Intervention Project

Mariana Trindade, Ana Simões, João Marcelino, Margarida Carmo, Margarida Capitão, Letícia Furtado, Ana Completo

Keywords: COPD; smoking cessation; health intervention; health literacy

Background:

Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) is a disease characterised by chronic respiratory symptoms and airflow limitation due to airway and/or alveolar abnormalities, with persistent and progressive airflow obstruction. The global prevalence is 10.3%. In Portugal, in 2019, the prevalence was 1.55% in Primary Health Care. COPD is one of the three leading causes of death worldwide. Approximately 40% of people with COPD continue to smoke despite knowing they have the disease and this behaviour has a negative impact on the prognosis and progression of the disease. Smoking cessation (SC) has the greatest capacity to influence the natural history of COPD. With dedicated resources and time, long-term success rates of up to 25% can be achieved.

Research questions:

In order to motivate patients diagnosed with COPD and active smoking habits to quit smoking, an intervention project is proposed. The aim is to assess motivation and the change in smoking cessation (SC) rates in this population after the intervention, comparing the results in two health care units.

Method:

- Type of study: Community intervention project;
- Target population: patients from two family health units diagnosed with COPD plus active smoking habits.
- Intervention: education sessions on the importance of smoking cessation for COPD patients, with an assessment of the motivation for smoking cessation (SC) of each participant using the Richmond test before and after the sessions, to determine the effectiveness of the intervention. Subsequently, each patient will be called for a first SC appointment, with the Richmond test being completed again in the end.
- Questionnaire completed in person (Richmond Test and Fagerström Test).
- Variables: gender, age, geographical location of the Family Health Units, active smoking habits; having attended a SC appointment in the last year, degree of motivation for SC and degree of tobacco dependence before and after interventions.

Results:

On going study.

Conclusions:

Points for discussion:

The objective collection of data on tobacco consumption and consultation related to smoking in patients with COPD makes it possible to make a diagnosis of the situation.

We could identify the need for long-term intervention, with the realisation of a continuous quality improvement project, monitoring the degree of motivation for SC and addiction in patients with COPD and active smoking habits, as well as monitoring the variation in the rate of smoking cessation in this population.

Since tobacco dependence is a chronic disease, clinicians must recognise that relapse is common and reflects the chronic nature of dependence and addiction, and does not represent a failure on the part of the patient or the doctor.

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