Changes in Health Perceptions of Male Prisoners Following a Smoking Cessation Program

The aim was to explore the changes in health perceptions of men in prison following a smoking cessation program. Interviews, lung age tests, and a quality-of-life questionnaire were carried out with prisoners. Four main themes emerged from the interviews: the increase in exercise tolerance with improvements in general health, an ability to taste food again, an acknowledgment of stress, and the reasoning behind beginning smoking. Lung age tests showed most prisoners had a lung age older than their chronological age. The quality-of-life survey showed that mean normalized results for physical functioning, general health, vitality, social functioning, and mental health were above 50%. Helping prisoners to remain smoke-free once they leave prison is a new challenge for health providers.