The influence of anxiety on smoking behaviour in patients with chronic hepatitis
Abstract
Background: Patients with chronic hepatitis often have affective disturbances that in the context of this diagnosis may strongly influence their atitude toward smoking. This study aims to assess the level of the anxiety as well as its influence on smoking behaviour in a group of patients with chronic hepatitis.
Methods: The study included 68 smokers with chronic hepatitis admitted to the Clinic of Infectious Diseases, Timisoara who answered the State Trait Anxiety Inventory-X2 (S.T.A.I.-X2) anonymous test. The final scores allowed classification of patients by level of anxiety: minimal (score below 40), moderate (score 40-60) and severe (score over 60). Other variables were: sex, marital status, residence, number of cigarettes/day, family conflicts, alcohol intake etc.
Results: Most of the patients were male (63.2%, p=0.004). Of the study group, 64.7% had severe anxiety and 35.3% moderate anxiety (p=0.001). The number of cigarettes smoked/day ranged between 10-20 in 73.5% of cases whereas 26.5% of patients reported less than 10 cigarettes smoked/day (p<0.0001); the former group included 44 patients with severe anxiety and 6 cases with moderate anxiety. Patients who increased the number of cigarettes smoked/day after finding out the diagnosis predominated within the study group (67.6%) while only 32.4% of cases smoked less (p=0.0001). Most of the patients reported a positive history of familial conflicts (70.6%, p<0.0001) and alcohol intake (66.2%, p=0.0003).
Conclusions: Considering that severe anxiety in patients with chronic hepatitis leads to an increased number of cigarettes smoked/day, it becomes mandatory to establish a cognitive-behavioral therapy with anti-smoking counseling in these cases.
- © 2011 ERS