To identify demographic characteristics and addiction status among clients of Abha Tobacco Smoking Clinic and motives driving them to visit the center for tobacco cessation.To identify different factors affecting compliance with follow up among clients visiting Abha Tobacco Smoking Control Clinic.
Methodology
Retrospective cohort study on clients visiting Abha Tobacco Smoking Control Clinic during 1429 -1430 H (2008-2009 AD) using data from files which were entered and analyzed by Epi Info.
Results
More than three fourths of clients of Abha Tobacco Control clinic were 35 years of age or less and more than three fourths of them were educated to secondary school and above. Most of the tobacco used was cigarettes as reported by 88.2 % of visitors. Cigarette smokers smoked 22.1+ 13.4 cigarettes per day with a median of 20 cigarettes. About half of clients used tobacco for 10 years or more. It was observed that 70% of clients reported having health effects related to tobacco use. The study results showed that 78.9% of visitors had previous attempts for tobacco abstention and most of them attributed their relapse to withdrawal symptoms or pressure by other tobacco users. More than 80% of clients were coming to the clinic and asking help for tobacco cessation because of health concerns. More than half of the visitors knew the clinic location through a relative or friend while the most regular visits were statistically significant among those who knew the clinic through asking or through another client. More than 95% of clients were addicts by criteria of Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-IV) and approximately 75% of cigarette smokers were severe or very sever addicts. The most frequent three withdrawal symptoms complained about were craving, insomnia and headache. Craving and headache were decreasing with time statistically significant through first four weeks while insomnia was increasing which was statistically significant. The regularity was showed statistically significant better in clients aged 30 years and above than others. The outcome of tobacco cessation in the clinic through six months of follow up showed about 93.9 % of clients defaulted, 5.0% did not cease while only 1.1% ceased tobacco use.
Conclusion
Most of the clients were young, severely addicted to cigarettes which were the most common tobacco type used and asking for help to quit because of health concerns. The majority of clients did not complete six months of follow up and the regularity of follow up appeared better in older visitors.