Open AccessA brief tobacco dependence intervention for people living with HIV in Nepal: results of a quasi-experimental study
Author(s) -
Krishna C. Poudel,
Kalpana PoudelTandukar,
Basu Dev Pandey,
Erica Letson,
Paula H. Palmer
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
journal of smoking cessation
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
ISSN - 1834-2612
DOI - 10.1017/jsc.2019.11
Subject(s) - intervention (counseling) , medicine , smoking cessation , human immunodeficiency virus (hiv) , confounding , environmental health , smoke , tobacco control , psychiatry , family medicine , public health , physics , nursing , pathology , meteorology
There is evidence of increased morbidity, decreased quality of life, and premature mortality in people living with HIV (PLHIV) who smoke tobacco compared to PLHIV who do not smoke tobacco. Evidence-based screening for tobacco dependence, pharmacological treatment, and treatment monitoring and education into relapse prevention are not readily available in low- and middle-income countries (LMIC). We evaluated the effects of a brief tobacco dependence intervention in improving knowledge on the health effects of smoking and intention to quit smoking in PLHIV in Nepal, a low-income country in south Asia. Methods Using a quasi-experimental design, we assigned 59 smokers to participate in the intervention and 67 in the control group. The 1.5 h smoking cessation intervention emphasized harms of smoking, reasons for smoking and quitting, causes of relapse in previous quit attempts, and quitting strategies. We collected data at baseline and immediately post-intervention. Results Findings indicate that a brief smoking cessation intervention produced a significant increase in smoking-related knowledge and intention to quit among PLHIV. The positive effects of our intervention remained significant after adjusting for potential confounders. Conclusions Our brief tobacco dependence intervention was effective in improving knowledge on the health effects of smoking and intention to quit among PLHIV. Further studies are required to evaluate the effectiveness of our intervention in increasing smoking cessation among PLHIV in LMIC.