Prevalence of Smoking among Male Psychiatric Outpatients

Abstract

The prevalence rate of smoking among psychiatric patients has been shown to be higher than that among general population, especially those with schizophrenia and affective disorders. This may reflect self-medication of symptoms, medication side effects, and cognitive deficits associated with psychiatric disorders. The aim of the study is to examine the prevalence of smoking among male psychiatric outpatients. 384 male psychiatric patients were participating in for this study. Another 280 patients, of the same age groups, attending general outpatient department of the same hospital for medical elements other than psychiatric acted as normal control. Diagnosis was made according to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition (DSM-IV). Both psychiatric patients and control group were assessed by using a smistructured interview questionnaire, which includes questions about each patient's sociodemgraphic variable, comprehensive smoking history. The sociodemgraphic of smokers among psychiatric patients were single72.3%, come from rural areas 74.9%, illiterate or had low education 82.2% and unemployed 83.2%. A prevalence of smokers among subgroup of psychiatric patients were, Schizophrenia 80.9%, Major Depression 60%, Mania 80%, Anxiety disorder 62.7%, Somatoform disorder 51.4%, Personality disorder 65% and substance abuse disorder 71.4%. Distribution of smokers among psychiatric patients and control group, 63.8 of the psychiatric patients were smokers against 32.1% of the control group were smokers. The prevalence of smoking in psychiatric male patients is high. It is consistent with other international studies.