Cigarette Smoking Down for Adults With Behavioral Health Conditions

FRIDAY, April 29, 2022 (HealthDay News) -- There were significant reductions in the prevalence of self-reported cigarette smoking among U.S. adults with major depressive episode (MDE), substance use disorder (SUD), or both between 2006 and 2019, according to a study published in the April 26 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association.

Beth Han, M.D., Ph.D., from the U.S. National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Maryland, and colleagues assessed change in the prevalence of cigarette smoking among U.S. adults with MDE, SUD, or both between 2006 and 2019. The analysis included data from 558,960 adults participating in the 2006 to 2019 U.S. National Surveys on Drug Use and Health.

The researchers found that past-month self-reported cigarette smoking prevalence declined significantly among adults with MDE, adults with SUD, and adults with co-occurring MDE and SUD. Significant declines were seen across age, sex, and racial and ethnic subgroup with MDE and with SUD, except among American Indian or Alaska Native adults with MDE or with SUD. Differences in the prevalence of cigarette smoking between adults with versus without MDE declined significantly for adults overall (average annual percent change, −3.4); differences among those with versus without SUD declined for women (average annual percent change, −1.8).

"These declines tell a public health success story," a coauthor said in a statement. "It is crucial that health care providers treat all the health issues that a patient experiences, not just their depression or drug use disorder at a given point in time. To do this, smoking cessation therapies need to be integrated into existing behavioral health treatments."

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