• Pakize Ayse Turan and Onur Turan.
• Menemen State Hospital, Chest Diseases Department, Izmir - Turkey.
• Afr Health Sci. 2023 Sep 1; 23 (3): 431436431-436.

Setting ObjectiveCurrent COVID-19 outbreak has led to many behavioural changes, including smoking behaviours. We aimed to investigate the success of quitting smoking of smoking cessation outpatients.DesignPatients who applied to the smoking cessation outpatient clinic of a state hospital during the pandemic were retrospectively analysed. Smoking cessation success, personal views and experiences about COVID-19 were questioned. Hospital Anxiety and Depression (HAD) Scale was applied.ResultsThe smoking cessation rate in the study population was 14.7%. The reasons for not being able to quit smoking were; stress (51.9%), drug discontinuation (28.4%) and reasons related to COVID-19 (12.3%). According to HADS scores; 35.8% of the participants were at risk for anxiety and 72.6% for depression. Those with pulmonary symptoms at the time of application (p=0.001), those who continued smoking cessation treatment (p=0.016), and those without depressive symptoms (p=0.040) were significantly more successful in quitting smoking. The rate of continuing smoking was significantly higher in patients with a history of COVID-19 <18.9% of participants>(p=0.013).ConclusionIntense stress and depressive symptoms, discontinuation of smoking cessation treatment and being infected with Coronavirus negatively affect the smoking cessation process in pandemic. These parameters should be considered during smoking cessation interviews and behavioural support should be obtained if necessary.© 2023 Turan PA et al.

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