Concurrent brief versus intensive smoking intervention during alcohol dependence treatment

Psychol Addict Behav. 2007 Dec;21(4):570-5. doi: 10.1037/0893-164X.21.4.570.

Abstract

Alcohol dependent smokers (N=118) enrolled in an intensive outpatient substance abuse treatment program were randomized to a concurrent brief or intensive smoking cessation intervention. Brief treatment consisted of a 15-min counseling session with 5 min of follow-up. Intensive intervention consisted of three 1-hr counseling sessions plus 8 weeks of nicotine patch therapy. The cigarette abstinence rate, verified by breath carbon monoxide, was significantly higher for the intensive treatment group (27.5%) versus the rate for the brief treatment group (6.6%) at 1 month after the quit date but not at 6 months, when abstinence rates fell to 9.1% for the intensive treatment group and 2.1% for the brief treatment group. Smoking treatment assignment did not significantly impact alcohol outcomes. Although intensive smoking treatment was associated with higher rates of short-term tobacco abstinence, other, perhaps more intensive, smoking interventions are needed to produce lasting smoking cessation in alcohol dependent smokers.

Publication types

  • Randomized Controlled Trial
  • Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural
  • Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S.

MeSH terms

  • Alcoholism / epidemiology*
  • Alcoholism / rehabilitation*
  • Counseling
  • Female
  • Humans
  • Incidence
  • Male
  • Middle Aged
  • Smoking / epidemiology*
  • Smoking Cessation* / methods
  • Smoking Prevention
  • Time Factors