Giving up smoking after a heart attack has been clearly associated with improvements in long-term patient survival, but how soon after myocardial infarction does smoking cessation begin to have positive effects?
A study published in the current issue of
Giving up smoking after a heart attack has been clearly associated with improvements in long-term patient survival, but how soon after myocardial infarction does smoking cessation begin to have positive effects?
indicates in-hospital cessation counseling following
heart attacks is associated with better short-term survival. Counseling smokers to quit reduced their chances of dying in the first 30 days, 60 days and up to 1 year after their attacks.
The study, conducted by investigators at the University of Alabama at Birmingham and the Deep South Center on Effectiveness at the Birmingham VA Medical Center, Birmingham, Alabama, analyzed the patient records of over 16,000 smokers, finding that 41% had received counseling. Compared with those not counseled, those who had received inpatient counseling had lower 30-day (2.0% vs. 3.0%), 60-day (3.7% vs. 5.6%), and 2-year mortality (25.0% vs. 30%). Even after adjusting for other factors such as demographic characteristics and comorbid conditions, those counseled were still less likely to die in the first year.