Smoking motivations and quitting motivations among HIV-infected smokers

The aim of this study was to examine smoking motivation and motivation to quit, and determinants of these motivations among HIV-infected cigarette smokers.

We conducted a 1-day cross-sectional survey on cigarette smoking in a representative sample of HIV-infected outpatients of French hospitals. A cluster analysis was used to characterize respondents' smoking motivation. A logistic regression was performed to study the factors associated with motivation to quit, including the clusters describing smoking motives.

We found four clusters of smoking motivation. These included intellectual/emotional support (22% of respondents), automatic/stress relief (22%; characterized by heavy smoking and strong dependency); weight control (29%; characterized by frequent symptoms of fat accumulation because of antiretroviral therapy) and pleasure/conviviality (27%; corresponding to 'lighter' smokers). In the logistic regression model, among other significant covariates (cigarette consumption level, tobacco dependence and perceived risk of developing a smoking-related disease), the automatic/stress relief cluster was negatively correlated to the motivation to quit (odds ratio 0.39), whereas the weight control cluster was strongly associated to this motivation (odds ratio 2.87).

The diversity of HIV-infected smokers' profiles suggests that different types of anti-tobacco measures should be implemented in this population, such as information campaigns on specific risks incurred by HIV-infected smokers, non-specific and comprehensive measures for those for whom smoking is combined with other difficulties, and alternative therapeutic solutions for those who smoke to deal with lipodystrophy.