Smoking Cessation Does Not Worsen Mental Health Outcomes, Study Finds

Smoking cessation may be associated with improved mental health outcomes among people with and without psychiatric disorders, according to astudy published yesterday inJAMA Network Open.“Many people who smoke state that they want to quit, but many continue because they report that smoking helps relieve stress and offers other mental health benefits,” wrote Angela Difeng Wu, M.Sc., and Min Gao, Ph.D., of the University of Oxford, and colleagues. “The belief that cigarettes are calming is widespread, and some health professionals may deter people with mental health disorders from trying to stop smoking.”Wu, Gao, and colleagues used data from theEvaluating Adverse Events in a Global Smoking Cessation Study (EAGLES), which compared outcomes in people with and without psychiatric disorders who had received either varenicline with nicotine replacement therapy, bupropion, or placebo for smoking cessation. People aged 18 to 75 who smoked 10 or more cigarettes per day during the previous year and were motivated to quit were included. Participants in the EAGLES study received 12 weeks of treatment followed by 12 weeks of follow-up visits that did not include treatment. Smoking cessation was defined as continuous abstinence between weeks nine and 24. Anxiety and depression outcomes were measured with the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS), which was administered at baseline and 11 times during visits between weeks six and 24. HADS includes seven items to assess anxiety...
Source: Psychiatr News - Category: Psychiatry Tags: anxiety depression EAGLES Evaluating Adverse Events in a Global Smoking Cessation Study Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale Source Type: research