The effect of art therapy on reoccurring smoking among youths

Objective: To evaluate the effect of art therapy on reoccurring smoking among youths.

Methods: A total of 114 smokers admitted to the smoking cessation clinic of our hospital were enrolled and randomly divided into the control group (n=61) and the study group (n=53). The control group was given health education intervention, and the study group was given art therapy intervention. The blood lipid level, symptom checklist score, lung function, and high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) and serum total cholesterol (TC) levels of different length of smoking were compared between the two groups.

Results: The levels of low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C), TC, triglycerides (TG), HDL-C were significantly reduced in both groups, but compared with the control group, the LDL-C, TC, TG, and HDL-C levels of the study group were decreased more significantly, and the difference was statistically significant (P<0.05). The symptom checklist scores were significantly reduced in both groups, but compared with the control group, the study group decreased more significantly, and the difference was statistically significant (P<0.05). There were significant differences in HDL-C levels among young smokers who had different length of smoking (P<0.05), and with the continuous increase in smoking years, HDL-C levels were significantly reduced. After intervention, lung function was significantly improved, and the levels of vital capacity (VC%) and forced expiratory volume in the first second (FEV1%) were significantly increased (P<0.05). After intervention, the smoking reduction rate and the success rate of time-point smoking cessation were significantly reduced (P<0.05).

Conclusion: Art therapy intervention had an ideal effect on young smokers, which could improve blood lipid levels and lung function, reduce the rate of reoccurring smoking, and significantly increase patients' symptom checklist score.