Original Research Article
Year: 2016 | Month: November | Volume: 6 | Issue: 11 | Pages: 198-201
Comorbid Tobacco Dependence among Patients with Schizophrenia
Reena George1, Sajithkumar P2, Raju S3, Alphonsa Ancheril4
1Associate Professor & Head, Department of Mental Health (Psychiatric) Nursing, Malabar Institute of Medical Sciences College of Nursing, Malappuram, Kerala.
2Assistant Professor, Dept of Medical- Surgical Nursing, Government College of Nursing, Calicut, Kerala.
3Associate Professor & Head, Department of Psychology, University of Kerala, Trivandrum, Kerala.
4Professor & Head, Department of Mental Health (Psychiatric) Nursing, Athena College of Nursing, Mangalore, Karnataka.
Corresponding Author: Reena George
ABSTRACT
Comorbid Tobacco Dependence among patients with schizophrenia is a major health care issue in most of the psychiatric care settings. The patients who are already affected by mental illness and taking antipsychotics experience health care issues due to tobacco use which could be a modifiable risk factor. The main objectives of the study were to identify comorbid tobacco dependence among patients with schizophrenia and determine the correlation between comorbid tobacco dependence and selected demographic variables. The participants were 60 males, who were admitted in the setting during data collection. The results revealed that most of the patients ( 33.33%) using tobacco were in the age group of 36-45 years and 17% of the sample were in the age group of 18-25 years. Among 60 sample 60% of the tobacco users were married and staying with their spouses and children. Most of the sample ( 45%) were manual laborers and only 15% had a secure occupation like government job. 75% of the sample started tobacco use before the onset of illness whereas only 25% of the sample started using tobacco after the occurrence of mental illness. The findings show a Positive correlation between tobacco dependence and duration of tobacco use ( r= 0.72, p= 0.001 level) and between age and tobacco dependence ( r=0.63 , p=0.001). 100% of the sample had desire to quit tobacco but were reported that they are not able to quit the habit due to high dependence to tobacco. Majority of the patients (80%) had relapse of schizophrenia and admitted in the setting more than 4 times and 65% were on antipsychotics from 7- 10 years. Mental health care professional should take active role in tobacco cessation strategies among patients for the effective action of medications and promotion of mental health of their patients.
Key words: Comorbid, Tobacco Use, dependence, Schizophrenia.