Smoking cessation in hospital workers: effectiveness of a coordinated program in 33 hospitals in Catalonia (Spain)

The Catalan Network of Smoke-free Hospitals coordinates a smoking cessation program addressed to hospital workers. The program included training in tobacco cessation, a common software, and free access to pharmacological treatments.

This study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of the Catalan Network of Smoke-free Hospitals smoking cessation program for abstinence among workers of the 33 participating hospitals.

A total of 930 hospital workers (in 33 hospitals) attended the cessation units between July 2005 and December 2007. The program included active follow-up during 6 months after quitting. We calculated 6-month abstinence probabilities by means of Kaplan-Meier curves according to gender, age, years of tobacco consumption, profession, Fagerström Test for Nicotine Dependence (FTND) score, and use of pharmacotherapy.

Overall abstinence probability was 0.504 (95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.431-0.570) at 6 months of follow-up. Abstinence was higher in men (0.526, 95% CI = 0.398-0.651) than in women (0.495, 95% CI = 0.410-0.581). Physicians had higher abstinence (0.659, 95% CI = 0.506-0.811) than nurses (0.463, 95% CI = 0.349-0.576). Workers with high nicotine dependence (FTND > 7) had lower abstinence probability (0.376, 95% CI = 0.256-0.495) than workers, with FTND score equal or below 6 (0.529, 95% CI = 0.458-0.599). We observed the highest abstinence probabilities in workers treated with combined pharmacotherapy (0.761, 95% CI = 0.588-0.933).

Significant predictors of abstinence were smoking 10 to 19 cigarettes/day, having present low or medium FTND score, and using combined treatment (nicotine replacement therapy and bupropion).

The results show the feasibility and success of a smoking cessation program for hospital workers coordinated at the regional level.