Smoking cessation in HIV patients: rate of success and associated factors

Background Smoking is the modifiable cardiovascular (CV) risk factor that contributes most to causing premature CV disease. Prevalence of smoking in patients with HIV infection is double that of the general population. Objectives To determine the rate of patients succeeding in quitting smoking after 12 months, factors associated with this success, and the characteristics of tobacco consumption and nicotine dependence. Methods Longitudinal descriptive study. Three hundred and sixty-eight HIV-infected patients were interviewed. Smokers in Prochaska's stage of action began a programme to quit smoking. We registered the variables related to tobacco consumption and the level of success of cessation. Results 63.9% of the patients were active smokers and 14% of them began the cessation programme. Average motivation for cessation was 7.8 +/- 1.4 (Richmond) and nicotine dependence rate 5.5 +/- 3.0 (Fagerstrom). After 1 year, 25% had quit smoking. Those patients who stopped smoking presented a higher motivation level (8.8 +/- 1.3 vs. 7.5 +/- 1.5, P=0.048). Cessation significantly reduced their CV risk at 12 months {2.5 [interquartile range (IQR) 2.0-5.2] vs. 1.7 [IQR 1.0-3.5], P=0.026}. Conclusions The prevalence of smokers in our population of HIV-infected patients was 63.9%. Only 14% began a smoking cessation programme. Twelve months after a programme to quit smoking, cessation rate was 25%; this was influenced mostly by the level of motivation of the patient.