Past Issues

Objective:Tobacco use has been prohibited in psychiatric institutions in Taiwan since 2009. We conducted this study to investigate the smoking behaviors and characteristics among psychiatric inpatients in Taiwan. Methods:The Adult Smoking Surveillance System was applied to hospitalized psychiatric patients. From April to June 2010, we recruited 1,030 subjects from psychiatric wards in Taiwan. We compared the results of this study with an adult smoking survey for the general population in 2009. Results:Hospitalized psychiatric patients had a higher prevalence of ever smoking compared to persons in the general population (45.7% vs. 28.6%). Alcohol abuse or dependence (odds ratio = 9.31, 95% confidence interval = 4.32 - 22.66, p< 0.001), history of methamphetamine use (OR = 3.58, 95% CI = 1.79 - 7.68, p< 0.001), and being divorced (OD = 2.61; 95% CI = 1.65 - 4.16, p< 0.001) were found to be significantly associated with cigarette smoking among psychiatric inpatients. Conclusion:Psychiatric inpatients had a higher rate of smoking than the general population. Smoking should be treated as an important issue for psychiatric inpatients, and effective treatment should be designed and integrated into existing mental health services.