Level of functioning, severity of illness, and smoking status among chronic psychiatric patients

It was hypothesized that chronic psychiatric patients who had quit smoking would be more functional and have lower Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale (BPRS) scores than those who continued to smoke. We interviewed 300 chronic psychiatric patients followed in the community. Fourteen percent were former smokers and nearly 11% had never smoked. Fifty-six percent of the sample were current smokers who had no intention of quitting, 13% were considering quitting, and 6% were seriously preparing to quit or had actually quit for a short period. When compared with current smokers, former smokers were more likely to live independently (p < .026) and less likely to have a drug or alcohol problem (p < .013). A random sample of current smokers were compared with former smokers on the BPRS. Former smokers had lower total BPRS scores (p < .03), and lower withdrawal/retardation subscale scores (p < .0058) than current smokers. We concluded that better functioning patients who smoked would be more likely to quit.