Targeting quit strategies

Tobacco control efforts targeted for those with mental health problems are urgently needed to increase quit rates for this group of smokers and to lower the prevalence of smoking overall, according to a story at medicalxpress.com quoting Renee Goodwin, PhD, Department of Epidemiology, Columbia Mailman School of Public Health (CMSPH).
Although increasing numbers of US smokers are quitting cigarettes, those with serious psychological distress are much less likely to do so.
A new study by scientists at the CMSPH and The City University of New York found that individuals with mental health problems quit cigarettes at half the rate of those without psychological distress. The findings are published in the journal Nicotine and Tobacco Research.
“Overall, tobacco cessation programs have been very successful, but our research suggests that people with mental health problems have not benefited from these,” said Goodwin, the senior author of the report.
“It is increasingly clear that tobacco control efforts targeted for those with mental health problems are urgently needed to increase quit rates for this group of smokers and to lower the prevalence of smoking overall.”