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(Stroke. 2009;40:2592.)
© 2009 American Heart Association, Inc.

Research Letters

Predictors of Smoking Abstinence After First-Ever Ischemic Stroke

A 3-Month Follow-Up

Halina Sienkiewicz-Jarosz, MD, PhD; Pawel Zatorski, MD; Anna Baranowska, MD; Danuta Ryglewicz, MD, PhD Przemyslaw Bienkowski, MD, PhD

From the I Department of Neurology (H.S.-J., D.R.), II Department of Neurology (A.B.), and Department of Pharmacology (P.Z., P.B.), Institute of Psychiatry and Neurology, Warsaw, Poland.

Correspondence to Przemyslaw Bienkowski, Department of Pharmacology, Institute of Psychiatry and Neurology, Sobieskiego 9 St, 02-957 Warsaw, Poland. E-mail bienkow{at}ipin.edu.pl

Background and Purpose— Predictors of smoking abstinence in stroke survivors remain largely unexplored. The present study addressed the relationship between degrees of nicotine dependence and smoking abstinence 3 months after ischemic stroke.

Methods— One hundred smokers with first-ever ischemic stroke were prospectively enrolled to the study. Correlates of nicotine dependence as well as sociodemographic and clinical characteristics were assessed during hospitalization. Smoking status was determined at 3-month follow-up.

Results— Significant predictors of smoking abstinence at follow-up included: the Fagerström Test for Nicotine Dependence score, the Barthel Index, the number of smoking household members, and the Geriatric Depression Scale score.

Conclusions— Our results suggest that smoking cessation after ischemic stroke can be determined by the interplay of psychobiological and environmental factors.

Key Words: ischemic stroke • smoking cessation • predictors