Effect of Tobacco Restriction on Length of Hospital Stay of Psychiatric Patients (Pages 40-46)

Renata Marques de Oliveira1, Antonio Carlos Siqueira Júnior2, Jair Lício Ferreira Santos3and Antonia Regina Ferreira Furegato4

1Master in Sciences through the Psychiatric Nursing Program of the Ribeirão Preto College of Nursing (EERP/University of São Paulo), Ribeirão Preto/São Paulo, Brazil; 2Doctor in Psychiatric Nursing, Lecturer on the Marília Faculty of Medicine (Famema), Marília/São Paulo, Brazil; 3Senior Professor of the Department of Social Medicine of the Ribeirão Preto Faculty of Medicine (FMRP/USP), Ribeirão Preto/SãoPaulo, Brazil; 4Senior Professor of the Department of Psychiatric Nursing and Human Sciences at the Ribeirão Preto College of Nursing (EERP/USP), Ribeirão Preto/São Paulo, Brazil
DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.12970/2310-8231.2015.03.02.2

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Abstract: Purpose: The objective of the study was to compare the length of hospital stay of smokers, former smokers, and nonsmokers admitted to the psychiatric unit before and after an increase in the severity of smoking restriction.
Design and Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted with 270 patients (smokers, former smokers, and nonsmokers) hospitalized in a psychiatric ward of a general hospital. They were divided into two groups: (1) 101 patients allowed one cigarette per hour (from 8:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m.) and (2) 169 patients whose restriction was changed to eight cigarettes/day.
Findings: The smokers hospitalized after the change in the patients’ access to cigarettes presented shorter length of hospitalization (13.8 days) than with smokers hospitalized and allowed one cigarette per hour (17.1 days). Regardless of the restriction in place, the smokers’ average length of hospital stay (14.9 days) is shorter than the average for former smokers (17.7 days) and for nonsmokers (17.6 days).
Practice Implications: The restriction on smoking may be an important tool of care in psychiatric services; however, the way it is implanted, the support resources available, and the training of nurses to enable them to deal with patients during the course of implementation must be revised.

Keywords: Tobacco control, psychiatry, psychiatric department hospital, psychiatric nursing. Read more