Smoking in hospitalized patients. A great opportunity

The objective of this study is to describe the characteristics of smokers admitted to different medical and surgical services in a university hospital and the perception of patients regarding the need for a specialized intervention. The sample comprises a total of 307 patients (mean age of 59.4 years), being 40% (n = 123) non-smokers, 42.7% (n = 131) ex-smokers, and 17.3% (n = 53) smokers. The average consumption of smokers was 22.2 cigarettes / day and the severity of nicotine dependence evaluated with the Fagerstrom test exceeded 5 points in more than half of the sample. On the other hand, 77.7% had made at least one previous attempt to quit tobacco use. Almost the entire sample (89.9 %) …