Effect of institutional smoking prohibition on Japanese inpatients with chronic schizophrenia.
OBJECTIVE
A higher prevalence of smoking among schizophrenic patients has been well documented in Japan and other countries. Smoking reduction or cessation is desirable to reduce various physical complications in schizophrenic patients, but the effect of smoking reduction on psychiatric status and BMI remains ambiguous. The aim of this study was to determine the effect of an institutional smoking prohibition on smoking status, psychiatric status and BMI in Japanese inpatients with schizophrenia.


METHODS
Smoking status, psychiatric status (Clinical Global Impression (CGI) scores: global severity score and global change score) and BMI were investigated in 256 chronic schizophrenic inpatients before and 3 months after prohibition of smoking in a Japanese psychiatric hospital building.


RESULTS
Following prohibition, the smoking rate decreased from 36.3% to 22.2%. A weak positive correlation was found between decreased cigarette consumption and the CGI global change score (r=0.140, p=0.025), but the mean global change scores in the smoking groups were less than 6 (minimally worse). No significant increase in BMI was observed.


CONCLUSIONS
Institutional smoking prohibition is effective in reducing the smoking rate, while having only a minor unfavorable effect on psychiatric status and BMI in chronic schizophrenic inpatients.
Kitabayashi
Yurinosuke
Y
Department of Psychiatry, Graduate School of Medical Science, Kyoto Prefectural University of Medicine, 465 Kajii-cho, Kawaramachi-Hirokoji, Kamigyo-ku, Kyoto 602-8566, Japan.
Narumoto
Jin
J
Shibata
Keisuke
K
Nakamae
Takashi
T
Kamei
Junko
J
Sano
Kumi
K
Oka
Shogo
S
Yamashita
Tatsuhisa
T
Kitabayashi
Masaki
M
Fukui
Kenji
K
D015992:Body Mass Index; D002908:Chronic Disease; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012559:Schizophrenia; D012565:Schizophrenic Psychology; D012907:Smoking / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence*; D016540:Smoking Cessation