Objective: To assess the evolution of anxiety during the smoking cessation process (3 months) and early smoking relapse, in a group of smokers seeking treatment for giving up smoking.
Method: Analytical, prospective and longitudinal study.
Study variables: sex, age, marital status, educational level, anxiety and depression background, use of psychopharmacological drugs, cigarettes smoked per day, co-oximetry, nicotine dependence (Fagerström Test for Nicotine Dependence) and state and trait anxiety (State-Trait Anxiety Inventory). Trait anxiety was assessed at the same time as medical history and state anxiety over the following sessions: Medical history session, day prior to stopping smoking, the day after, and at one week, one month and three months. Continuous abstinence was assessed by self-report and confirmed by co-oximetry ≤ 10 ppm.
Results: 569 patients, 288 men (50.6%) and 281 women (49.4%), mean age 43 years, mean cigarettes per day 23, average score on Fagerström Test 6. State anxiety levels decreased during the smoking cessation process, and these levels were maintained three months later. Women scored higher on state and trait anxiety, and so did smokers who took psychopharmacological drugs. Relapsing patients had higher levels of state anxiety in the session prior to relapse.
Conclusions: State anxiety decreases during the smoking cessation process, remaining at the same level after 3 months. There is a need to incorporate behavioural strategies in smoking cessation treatment.