Intervención enfermera de deshabituación tabáquica en Atención Primaria / Nurses intervention to quit smoking developed in Primary Care

ABSTRACT

Objectives: to determine the effectiveness of a group therapyintervention to quit smoking as well as the variablesassociated to such intervention. To characterise the smokingprofile of patients who attended the therapy group.Method: randomised interventional study with no controlgroup containing sociodemographic variables on the smokingprofile of a population of 121 patients who attended amulticomponent group therapy intervention to quit smokingundertaken by primary care nurses between 2001 and 2005.Ratios were used to measure quality variables and MeanStandard Deviation (SD) and their 95% Confidence Interval(CI 95%).Results: of the 121 individuals who completed the intervention,52% continued their abstinence at 1 year, 42,7% at2 years and 32,0% at 3 years. Before attending the intervention,these individuals had been smoking 24,8 years onaverage. Mean consumption was 28,0 cigarettes per dayfor men and 20,5 for woman. Mean age was 41,2 years.Conclusions: the profile of the study population is similarto that of most populations that attend group therapy nationwideto quit the habit. The abstinence rate achievedwith the multicomponent therapy at 1, 2 and 3 years is similaror above that obtained with the same or with othermethods, by nurses or other professionals, both nationallyand internationally. We can thus conclude that the methoddescribed validates the work undertaken by nurses as competentprofessionals to counsel individuals who wish to quit smoking (AU)