Cigarette smoking and interest in quitting among consumers at a Psychiatric Disability Rehabilitation and Support Service in Victoria.

OBJECTIVE

To gather information on smoking rates and interest in smoking cessation among consumers at a Psychiatric Disability Rehabilitation and Support Service (PDRSS).

METHOD

A questionnaire was offered to all consumers at Neami Victoria by support staff in March 2007. Two hundred and eighty people (81%) completed the survey. Relationships between categorical variables were analysed using Fischer's exact test (p=0.05).

RESULTS

Sixty-two per cent of consumers were smokers. Twelve per cent had previously quit smoking. PDRS consumers smoked 50% more than the general population and high rates (17%) of illegal tobacco smoking were identified. Fifty-nine per cent of smokers wanted to quit while 74% wanted to reduce.

CONCLUSIONS

While smoking rates were almost four times higher than the general population, interest in quitting and cutting down was also high.

IMPLICATIONS

Opportunities exist for public health advocates to collaborate with PDRSSs to increase knowledge related to smoking harms, and to reduce smoking in this group.