The combination of a smoking cessation programme with rehabilitation increases stop-smoking rate

Objective and study design: A parallel group study to investigate the effectiveness of a smoking cessation programme performed during routine rehabilitation practice for outpatients. Patients and methods: The study participants comprised an intervention group of 102 consecutive smokers who underwent a smoking cessation programme in a rehabilitation centre and a control group of 101 consecutive smokers who were referred to a smoking cessation centre in a pulmonary hospital. All participants underwent physical examination, pulmonary function tests and received identical behavioural and/or pharmacological treatment. In addition. the intervention group underwent rehabilitation practice 3 times a week for 3 months. Results: The continuous abstinence rate at 12 months, which was validated by an expired air carbon monoxide concentration of 10 parts per million or less and a household interview, was 68% in the intervention group and 32% in the control group. Multivariable analysis showed that rehabilitation was significantly associated with smoking cessation after adjusting for years of smoking, number of cigarettes smoked, gender and treatment (odds ratio=4.34, p<0.001). Conclusion: This study suggests that smoking cessation programmes during routine rehabilitation may be highly effective in helping smoking withdrawal and should be a strongly recommended component of rehabilitation practice.