Smoking cessation interventions in nurses and other health care workers

Abstract

Introduction: Tobacco smoking can be considered an old and a new challenge for public health. The aim of this review was to analyse different smoking cessation interventions aiming at health care workers.
Methods: A literature search of electronic journal databases for studies on smoking cessation interventions among health care workers was performed according to PRISMA criteria, using the MEDLINE and Scopus databases.
Results: Smoking restriction policies shouldn’t be considered as actual interventions, being ineffective, unpopular and reducing willingness to quit smoking in many subjects. Even though pharmacological therapies based on bupropion SR and transdermal nicotine patches grant significant results on the short-term (weeks and months), smoking recurrence rates are high and individualised interventions should be preferred or integrated since they seem to grant better results on the longterm (years).
Conclusions: There is evidence that smoking cessation interventions among health care workers can be effective. This is of particular interest both for reducing tobacco smoking prevalence among this type of workers and for helping them to be useful model for the general population.