The effect of stopping smoking on perceived stress levels

摘要: Aims Many smokers believe that smoking helps them to cope with stress, and stopping would deprive of an effective stress management tool. Changes in levels following long-term cessation are not wellmapped.Thislongitudinalprojectwasdesignedtoprovidemorerobustdataonpost-cessationchangesinperceived by a cohort admitted hospital after myocardial infarction (MI) or for coronary artery bypass (CAB) surgery, as such patients typically achieve higher continuous abstinence rates than other comparablesamples.Design Atotalof 469smokershospitalizedafterMIorCABsurgeryandwantingtostopsmokingwere seeninthehospitalandcompleted1-yearfollow-ups.Ratingsof helpfulnessof smokinginmanagingstressatbaseline, status (validated salivary cotinine concentration) ratings perceived at baseline 1-year follow-upwerecollected.Findings Of thepatients,41%(n = 194)maintainedabstinencefor1year.Futureabstainers future did differ their perception coping properties smoking. However,abstainersrecordedasignificantlylargerdecreaseinperceivedstressthancontinuingsmokers,andtheresult held when possible confounding factors were controlled (P < 0.001). Conclusions In highly dependent whoreportthatsmokinghelpsthemcopewithstress,smokingcessationisassociatedwithloweringof stress.Whatever