A low-cost environmental intervention for reducing smoking among cardiac inpatients

Abstinence rates for smokers following a myocardial infarction or coronary artery bypass graft surgery may not be superior to those for nonpatient groups, and thus there is a need for novel approaches to smoking cessation in this population. The present study evaluated the effectiveness of using two sets of educational posters to reduce smoking among veterans in an inpatient cardiology unit's designated smoking area. One set of posters outlined the benefits of cessation (positive message) for cardiac patients while the other highlighted the risks of continued smoking (negative message). The positive posters had no consistent effect on indices of smoking, but the negative posters produced a substantial decline in both number of observed smokers and daily cigarette butts.