Researchers in Norway wanted to see if a special stop-smoking program could help hospitalized patients with heart or vascular disease. They studied 213 patients who smoked and were in the hospital for heart or circulation problems. Half received a 30-minute counseling session from a trained nurse while in the hospital, plus a plan for follow-up phone calls and community support after discharge. The other half received the usual brief stop-smoking advice from their doctor.
After six months, about half of the patients who got the counseling reported they had quit smoking completely, compared to about a quarter of those who got standard advice. Tests that measure carbon monoxide in breath confirmed these results. The benefit was still present a year later. The researchers also checked medical records about 18 months later and saw that fewer patients in the counseling group had experienced new heart attacks, strokes, or other vascular problems.
No safety issues with the counseling were reported. The main reason to be careful is that the finding about fewer heart and vascular problems was an exploratory look, not the main goal of the study. The study was also done in just three hospitals in one country.
This study shows that a structured, supportive stop-smoking program starting in the hospital can be very helpful for patients with serious heart and vascular conditions. It suggests that combining in-person counseling with organized follow-up support works better than advice alone. Patients with these conditions should know that effective help to quit smoking is available and can be part of their hospital care.
