Clinical significance of tobacco withdrawal.
To estimate the clinical significance of tobacco withdrawal, this review located six experimental studies that reported Profile of Mood States (POMS) scores after stopping smoking in untreated smokers and compared them with scores in psychiatric outpatients. The pre-cessation POMS Total Mood Disturbance scores (median = 13.6) were similar to adult norms (mean, M = 17.8) but during abstinence (M = 5 days), the scores had increased (M = 27.4) to be similar to that of psychiatric outpatient norms (M = 25.1). These results and others suggest stopping smoking causes clinically significant distress.
Hughes
John R
JR
University of Vermont, Department of Psychiatry, Ira Allen School, Burlington, VT 05401-1419, USA. john.hughes@uvm.edu
D000339:Affect; D006801:Humans; D016540:Smoking Cessation / Q000523:psychology*; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000209:etiology; D013375:Substance Withdrawal Syndrome / Q000150:complications / Q000523:psychology*