TY - JOUR
T1 - Prevalence of Mental Health and Social Connection among Patients Seeking Tobacco Dependence Management
T2 - A Pilot Study
AU - Galiatsatos, Panagis
AU - Oluyinka, Mopeninu Jesu
AU - Min, Jihyun
AU - Schreiber, Raiza
AU - Lansey, Dina G.
AU - Ikpe, Ruth
AU - Pacheco, Manuel C.
AU - DeJaco, Victoria
AU - Ellison-Barnes, Alejandra
AU - Neptune, Enid
AU - Kanarek, Norma F.
AU - Cudjoe, Thomas K.M.
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2022 by the authors.
PY - 2022/9
Y1 - 2022/9
N2 - Introduction: with regards to tobacco dependence management, there are certain barriers to successful smoking cessation for patients, such as untreated anxiety and depression. Complicating the impact of mental health morbidities on tobacco dependence may be the significant portion of patients whose mental health issues and limited social connections are undiagnosed and unaddressed. We hypothesize that patients with no prior mental health diagnoses who are treated for tobacco dependence have high rates of undiagnosed mental health morbidities. Methods: patients were recruited from a tobacco treatment clinic in 2021. Every patient who came for an inaugural visit without a prior diagnosis of mental health disease was screened for depression, anxiety, social isolation and loneliness. Sociodemographic variables were collected. Results: over a 12-month period, 114 patients were seen at the tobacco treatment clinic. Of these 114 patients, 77 (67.5%) did not have a prior diagnosis of a mental health disease. The mean age was 54.3 ± 11.2 years, 52 (67.5%) were females, and 64 (83.1%) were Black/African American. The mean age of starting smoking was 19.3 ± 5.2 years, and 43 (55.8%) had never attempted to quit smoking in the past. With regards to mental health screening, 32 (41.6%) patients had a score of 9 or greater on the Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ) 9, 59 (76.6%) had a score of 7 or greater on the Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD) 7, 67 (87.0%) were identified with social isolation and 70 (90.1%) for loneliness on screening. Conclusion: there was a high prevalence of undiagnosed mental health morbidities and social disconnection in patients who were actively smoking and were struggling to achieve smoking cessation. While a larger scale study is necessary to reaffirm these results, screening for mental health morbidities and social disconnection may be warranted in order to provide effective tobacco dependence management.
AB - Introduction: with regards to tobacco dependence management, there are certain barriers to successful smoking cessation for patients, such as untreated anxiety and depression. Complicating the impact of mental health morbidities on tobacco dependence may be the significant portion of patients whose mental health issues and limited social connections are undiagnosed and unaddressed. We hypothesize that patients with no prior mental health diagnoses who are treated for tobacco dependence have high rates of undiagnosed mental health morbidities. Methods: patients were recruited from a tobacco treatment clinic in 2021. Every patient who came for an inaugural visit without a prior diagnosis of mental health disease was screened for depression, anxiety, social isolation and loneliness. Sociodemographic variables were collected. Results: over a 12-month period, 114 patients were seen at the tobacco treatment clinic. Of these 114 patients, 77 (67.5%) did not have a prior diagnosis of a mental health disease. The mean age was 54.3 ± 11.2 years, 52 (67.5%) were females, and 64 (83.1%) were Black/African American. The mean age of starting smoking was 19.3 ± 5.2 years, and 43 (55.8%) had never attempted to quit smoking in the past. With regards to mental health screening, 32 (41.6%) patients had a score of 9 or greater on the Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ) 9, 59 (76.6%) had a score of 7 or greater on the Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD) 7, 67 (87.0%) were identified with social isolation and 70 (90.1%) for loneliness on screening. Conclusion: there was a high prevalence of undiagnosed mental health morbidities and social disconnection in patients who were actively smoking and were struggling to achieve smoking cessation. While a larger scale study is necessary to reaffirm these results, screening for mental health morbidities and social disconnection may be warranted in order to provide effective tobacco dependence management.
KW - mental health
KW - smoking cessation
KW - social isolation
KW - tobacco dependence
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85138392442&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=85138392442&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.3390/ijerph191811755
DO - 10.3390/ijerph191811755
M3 - Article
C2 - 36142029
AN - SCOPUS:85138392442
SN - 1661-7827
VL - 19
JO - International journal of environmental research and public health
JF - International journal of environmental research and public health
IS - 18
M1 - 11755
ER -