Sociodemographic, family and clinical characteristics associated with smoking cessation intention among smokers treated in a quaternary care hospital

Introduction: Smoking cessation interventions are a priority in medical care settings, including hospitals. Objectives: To describe the sociodemographic, family, and clinical characteristics of smokers treated in a quaternary care hospital and to establish the variables associated with smoking cessation intention in order to optimize the management of this risk factor in the hospital setting. Materials and methods. A cross-sectional study was conducted in 321 active smokers treated between April 2018 and November 2019 in Bogotá D.C., Colombia. Smoking prevalence was calculated, and participants’ sociodemographic, family, and clinical information was obtained and subsequently analyzed using descriptive statistics. Associations between said variables and cessation intention were established by means of bivariate (chi-squared test) and multivariate analyses (ordinal logistic regression model with the corresponding 95% confidence intervals). Results: Smoking prevalence was 8.89% (95%CI: 7.97-9.82), (N=3609; n=321 active smokers). Most participants were men (66.67%), had a low or middle socioeconomic status (96.89%) and a basic educational level (52.34%), and 42.06% were between 46 and 64 years old. The majority of active smokers had a mild degree of smoking consumption and low level of nicotine dependence (78.82% and 81.62%, respectively). Furthermore, 78.82% reported previous attempts to quit smoking. Nuclear family was the predominant family type (58.57%), and 40.19% of smokers experienced some degree of family dysfunction. Smokers with more perceived benefits derived from smoking cessation and high self-efficacy are more likely to make a smoking cessation attempt (OR=9.44, 95%CI:1.27-85.03 and OR=3.73, 95%CI:1.55-8.78, respectively). Conclusions: The identification and characterization of smokers in the hospital setting provides useful insights to personalize smoking cessation interventions.