Effectiveness of a Post-discharge Phone-Based Smoking Cessation Intervention for Patients with Severe Mental Health Disorders: The 061 Quitmental Randomized Controlled Clinical Trial

Abstract

Smoking; Hospital discharge; Mental health disorders

Fumar; Alta hospitalaria; Trastornos mentales

Fumar; Alta hospitalària; Trastorns mentals

A pragmatic double-blind randomized controlled trial was conducted in Barcelona to assess a telephone-based smoking cessation intervention’s effectiveness for individuals with mental health disorders post-discharge. Participants were divided into an intervention group (IG) and control group (CG) with a 2:1 allocation ratio. The IG received proactive motivational assistance, while the CG received brief advice. Biochemically validated past 7-day abstinence was the main outcome measure. Of 530 screened individuals, 294 were enrolled (200 IG, 94 CG). During follow-up, participants reported 97 episodes of ≥ 7-day abstinence (IG, 51; CG, 26). Overall abstinence probability was 30–35%, with no difference between groups at 1-year follow-up. However, intervention participants were more likely to report abstinence if they quit during hospitalization or were considering quitting. The intervention effectively supported smoking abstinence in motivated individuals. Combining this with clinical and community-based interventions holds promise for aiding smoking cessation in those with mental disorders. ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT03230955.

Open Access funding provided thanks to the CRUE-CSIC agreement with Springer Nature. This project has been financed by the Instituto Carlos III (ISCIII) (Grant: PI15/00875) Fondo Europeo de Desarrollo Regional (FEDER) “Una manera de hacer Europa. The Tobacco Control Research Group is partly supported by the Ministry of Universities and Research from the Government of Catalonia [2017SGR319] and by Instituto de Salud Carlos III, Government of Spain (CIBERES CB19/06/00004). EF was also supported by the Instituto de Salud Carlos III, Government of Spain, co-funded by the European Regional Development Fund (FEDER) [INT16/00211 and INT17/00103]. CM was also supported by the Instituto de Salud Carlos III, Government of Spain, co-funded by the European Regional Development Fund (FEDER) [INT17/00116] and Ministry of Health from the Government of Catalonia [PERIS No 9015-586920/2017]. We thank CERCA Programme/Generalitat de Catalunya for institutional support.