Objectives: To examine the association of setting—inpatient vs. outpatient—with success rate of 3-month smoking cessation.
Methods: A retrospective chart review was conducted based on collected data of smokers receiving a 3-month follow-up at National Cheng Kung University Hospital from January to December 2017. The outcome variable was self-reported 7-day point prevalence tobacco abstinence at the 3-month follow-up. The predictor variables were settings (inpatient vs. outpatient), baseline data, smoking-related factors, and smoking cessation intervention.
Results: A total of 1,667 subjects were enrolled, including 1,035 inpatients (62.1%) and 632 outpatients (37.9%). At the 3-month follow-up, the rate of abstinence was 41.3%. In univariate analysis, there was a significant difference in the abstinence rate between the outpatient and the inpatient groups (outpatient 36.1% and inpatient 44.2%, p=0.001). In multivariate analysis, inpatient intervention achieved greater abstinence than outpatient intervention at the 3-month follow-up (odds ratio 2.3, 95% confidence interval 1.8-3.1, p<0.001). Positive factors associated with abstinence were as follows: pharmacotherapy ≥ 4 weeks (odds ratio 2.3, 95% CI 1.5-3.5, p<0.001), number of counselling (odds ratio 1.3, 95% CI 1.1-1.4, p<0.001), marital status (married vs. single; odds ratio 1.3; 95% CI 1.0-1.7, p=0.032), and age of starting smoking ≥ 18 y/o (odds ratio 1.6, 95% CI 1.3-2.0, p<0.001). By contrast, high dependence score (odds ratio 0.9; 95% CI 0.8-0.9, p<0.001), and habits of chewing betel nuts (no vs. yes; odds ratio 1.6; 95% CI 1.1-2.3, p=0.015) and alcohol drinking (no vs. yes; odds ratio 1.3; 95% CI 1.0-1.7, p=0.019) were negatively related to tobacco abstinence.
Conclusion: In addition to smoker’s characteristics, counselling and medication for smoking cessation, inpatient intervention achieves a success rate 2.3 times greater than outpatient intervention. Thus, hospitalization can be a timing of smoking cessation intervention that should be seized to improve the abstinence rate of smoking cessation.