Pattern and correlates of tobacco smoking among mentally ill male patients in El-Mamoura Psychiatric Hospital, Alexandria, Egypt.

BACKGROUND: Despite widespread concern in public health regarding the increasing prevalence and burden of smoking and mental disorders, little is known about the double burden of these problems in Arab countries.

AIM: To describe pattern and identify determinants of smoking among mentally ill male patients in El-Mamoura Psychiatric Hospital, Alexandria, Egypt.

MATERIALS AND METHODS: A cross-sectional study was conducted on 300 randomly selected adult male outpatients receiving formal diagnosis of one or more mental disorders according to Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders-IV criteria by a senior psychiatrist. A predesigned structured interviewing questionnaire and an Arabic translation of Fagerstrom test for nicotine dependence were used to collect data.

RESULTS: The study indicated that 68.7% of patients were current daily smokers and 58.2% of them were high nicotine dependent. Smoking was significantly associated with single and dual diagnoses of schizophrenia spectrum disorder and bipolar disorder (odds ratio=2, 3.1, 3.9, respectively).

CONCLUSION: Professionals working with people with mental disorders should be trained in raising awareness of smoking health outcomes and provision of counseling quit services.