With support, easier for TB patients to quit smoking

Smoking addicts, who are also battling tuberculosis, are more likely to quit with a little bit of extra push from health workers, researchers from Post Graduate Institute (PGI) Chandigarh say.

Published in the latest edition of Indian Journal of Public Health, the study attempts to draw evidence from India about the effectiveness of a brief smoking cessation intervention provided to TB patients.

A total of 685 smear positive pulmonary TB patients were enrolled in the study, out of which, 152 (22.7 per cent) were smokers. “This shows that the prevalence of smoking was almost twice among TB patients as compared to general population (11 per cent, according to GATS 2009-10),” said Dr Sonu Goel, Additional Professor of Health Management, School of Public Health, PGI Chandigarh.  

Of the 152 smokers, 78 patients were put in the intervention group where TB health workers provided them with a special ABC intervention package — Ask, Brief Advice & Cessation Support. The other 74 in the group received regular TB treatment.

“Currently, under the RNTCP, there are no structured guidelines to help smoker patients quit. The government’s tobacco and TB control programmes are being run parallelly, but there is no co-ordination. The idea was to see if efforts should lead to quitting,” said Dr Goel.

At the end of the treatment, 57 (80.2 per cent) patients in the intervention arm had quit smoking,  as against 42 (57.5 per cent) in the control arm, who had received no extra help to quit.

Additionally, the success of TB treatment was higher among those who quit. In 2015, TB caused 14 lakh deaths world wide and India is responsible for one fourth of that load.