Abstract

Objective: Smoking is an important contributor to respiratory diseases and is the major etiological factor for the development of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and adversely affects control of asthma. For this reason, smoking cessation is the one of the most important ways to improve the prognosis of patients with respiratory disease. Our aim was to determine the characteristics with the long-term smoking cessation rates of outpatients with COPD and asthma and compared the differences between the diseases.

Material and Method: 42 smokers with COPD and 28 asthma patients were prospectively evaluated in 2007. All of the patients answered the Fagerstrom test with a regular questionnaire of general characteristics. Baseline spirometry and CO oximetry were performed. The 24 months follow-up results and demographic characteristics were reported.

Results: COPD patients were older and the total amount of smoked cigarettes was higher with an evident airway obstruction. In the first year, the smoking cessation rate was less with high tobacco dependence relapses in outpatients with asthma (32% and 18%) compared with COPD (55% and 9%). Asthma patients were predominantly women and cessation rates were quite low with higher relapse rates in women compared with men. At the end of 2 years follow up, smoking cessation rates for COPD was 45%, whereas this was 18% for asthma, which was dramatically low.

Conclusion: Results of this analysis confirm that smoking cessation is still a huge problem to be solved in respiratory diseases. Even if smoking is not an etiological factor in asthma, tobacco dependence is more severe and long-term cessation rates are very low with high relapses. (Tur Toraks Der 2011; 12: 67-71)