Efficacy of telephone quit-line for smokers in Iran: 12 months follow up results

Smoking cessation is an effective intervention for cancer prevention. For some reasons many smokers cannot attend quit programs and they prefer to have a consultation over the phone. In this study we share our experience regarding setting up a quit-line for smoking cessation for the first time in Iran. Two general practitioners were trained to give consultation over the phone via quit line in Tehran. The quit program consisted of 4 sessions with 1 week interval. Our telephone counseling was both reactive and proactive from 8 AM till 5 PM during the years 2005 - 2008. In reactive counseling, the smoker initiates the call and speaks with a counselor about his/her current concerns. In proactive counseling, the counselor calls the smoker and provides counseling in a systematic manner. Smoking status was determined based on smokers' self-report and regular follow-ups were conducted after quitting. Some cases were randomly selected for CO respiratory test in order to confirm their abstinence. A total of 480 cases entered the cessation program out of which, 80% were males. The mean age was 38.5 +/- 7.9 years, 72.7% of participants were married, 75.2% of subjects were educated and 51.3% of cases had high nicotine dependence. A total of 332 cases received a brief advice on quitting, 148 people continued their active participation to complete the course and 122 cases [82.4%] quitted smoking. The sustained abstinence rate after 1, 3, 6 and 12 months was 59%, 41%, 31% and 18%; respectively. This method is an appropriate and accessible method which can be suggested to smokers during smoking cessation counseling

Severity of nicotine withdrawal symptoms after smoking cessation

Smoking is among the most common preventable causes of early death in the world. Implementation of smoking cessation programs is among the effective strategies of tobacco control. More than half the smokers experience nicotine withdrawal syndrome after quitting and this could be one of the main reasons of unsuccessful smoking cessation. This study evaluated the severity of nicotine withdrawal symptoms 14 days after quitting [the last visit of smokers to the smoking cessation clinic]. This was a cross sectional study conducted on volunteers for smoking cessation from Nov. 2006 to Nov. 2007. During a one month course, volunteers attended 4 sessions of treatment and training [1 session per week]. Since the 2[nd] session, they stopped smoking with the aid of nicotine gum and behavioral therapy under the supervision of a physician. Fourteen days after quitting [4[th] session], the severity of nicotine withdrawal symptoms was evaluated using the Minnesota test and was compared between males and females using the Chi square test. A total of 197 participants were studied, 65% of which were males, 76.6% were married, 49.2% successfully quit smoking during the study period, 12.2% cut down smoking, and 38.6% did not finish the course. The mean score for increase in appetite, irritability and depression was 4.6 +/- 3.4, 4.3 +/- 3.4 and 3.6 +/- 3.3, respectively. The mean score for severity of depression was 4.5 +/- 3.4 in women and 3.19 +/- 3.2 in men [p=0.03]. The mean score for severity of anxiety was 4.6 +/- 3.6 in women and 2.6 +/- 2.9 in men [p=0.004]. Also, the mean score for severity of irritability was 5.7 +/- 3.3 and 3.6 +/- 3.3 in women and men, respectively [p=0.002]. The severity of symptoms related to nicotine withdrawal syndrome was considerably low 14 days following abstinence. However, the severity of nicotine craving was significantly higher compared to other symptoms. Severity of more than half the symptoms was significantly higher in women but further investigations are required in this regard

Evaluation of patients with infective endocarditis in a pulmonary referral centre

Despite the decreased incidence of rheumatic fever and use of prophylactic antibiotic the incidence rate of infective endocarditis has not declined. In this research, we have studied the clinical feature and therapeutic response of patients with infective endocarditis presenting with pulmonary manifestations to a pulmonary referral center. All patients with diagnosis of endocarditis that had pulmonary manifestations [based on Duke Criteria] as their primary clinical presentation were entered in this study. Data in regard to individual information, clinical features, laboratory finding and therapeutic responses were noted. All data were analysed using SPSS software [version 11.5]. A total number of twenty patients here entered the study. Mean age was 34.8 +/- 11.6 yr. The commonest clinical features included: fever [95%], cough [65%] and dyspnea [65%]. Also the commonest signs were cardiac murmurs [65%], hepatomegaly [35%] and splenomegaly [35%]. Clubbing was seen in 10%. Sixty percent of the cases were intravenous drug users and 25% were infected with HIV. Also 50% of the patients did not have any background of valvular diseases. However, there was vegetations on one valve in 75% and multiple valves were involved in 25%. The commonest valves affected were trocuspid [50%], mitral [30%] and pulmonic valve [10%]. Staphylococcus aureus [47.3%] and Streptococcus viridans [27.3%] were the commonest microorganisms detected. Pericardial effusion was present in 30% which was higher in IV drug users [p. value=0.042]. Total mortality rate in hospital was 5%. Infective endocarditis should be considered in the list of differential diagnosis in patients suffering from pulmonary symptoms especially in IV drug users