Considering ADHD in adults might be useful in smoking cessation efforts; a study carried out among physicians.

Tevfik Tanju Yılmazer, Tolga Kadioglu

Keywords: Attention deficit and hyperactivity disorder, smoking, , smoking cessation

Background:

Attention Deficit and Hiperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is known to be more prevalent in smokers than the general population and it also might present difficulties in smoking cessation efforts. Aim of this study is to emphasize the possible effect of ADHD in smokers at a certain profession group, the physicians. It was executed by World Helth Organisation’s (WHO) “Self Reporting Scale of Adult Type ADHD”. Since the physiological mechanisms are quite common in ADHD, the importance of diagnosis and treatment of ADHD during cigarette cessation is emphasized.

Research questions:

Should ADHD evaluation be performed in smoking cessation ?

Method:

A group of smoker and non-smoker control group of physicians working at İzmir Tepecik Training and Research Hospital during the study period (November 2017 - June 2018) were included in the study. During the study, WHO “Self Reporting Scale of Adult Type ADHD” consisting of 18 questions was given to a total of 126 doctors. The obtained data were analyzed with student’s t, chi square tests and pearson correlation coefficient were used.

Results:

Eleven smokers had high and 49 had very high ADHD probability. Meanwhile in the non-smokers, 23 people with high and 43 people with very high ADHD probability. There was a statistically significant relationship between smoking and the likelihood of ADHD (p <0.05).

Conclusions:

During both personal and professional smoking cessation efforts, it might be reasonable to refer to ADHD-related questions and keep this disorder in mind and manage accordingly especially if there are findings associated with ADHD

Points for discussion:

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