ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND, In patients with acute coronary syndrome, smoking cessation rates, demographics, and management strategies havenot been well described. We hypothesized that hospitalized patients with acute coronary syndrome would have higher smoking cessation rates than other currently available therapies. In-hospital counseling and referral to cardiac rehabilitation may further improve cessation rates. METHODS, We reviewed 1098 consecutive admissions for acute coronary syndrome at the University of Michigan; 254 of thesepatients reported active smoking status on admission. Patients were divided into (i) those who continued smoking and (ii) those who quit smoking based on a 6-month telephonic interview. Clinical variables, management and therapies were com-pared for the two cohorts. RESULTS, The mean age of the 254 patients was 56 years and 65% were male. At six months, 49.2% of patients had quit smok-ing. Significant predictors of smoking cessation were coronary artery bypass grafting, pulmonary artery catheter placement, and need for mechanical ventilation. Patients who underwent cardiac rehabilitation post-discharge had a trendtoward higher cessation rates. Formal counseling during hospitalization did not seem to affect cessation rates. CONCLUSIONS, In this study, patients with acute coronary syndrome had a higher 6-month smoking cessation rate than previously published rates seen in ambulatory practice, and the more severely ill patients had higher cessation rates. Smoking cessation rates were not higher in those who received in-patient smoking counseling.