Group Therapy, Nicotine Replacement Reduce Smoking Among Incarcerated Individuals

A study published in the American Journal of Men’s Health found that a combination of group-based tobacco dependence treatment and nicotine replacement therapy was “an effective and feasible option” for smoking cessation among incarcerated men and transgender women who otherwise face barriers to accessing smoking cessation treatment services.

Incarcerated individuals overall use tobacco products at a higher rate than the general population, likely as a coping mechanism for chronic and daily stress created by several factors associated with prison. Inmates who participated in the study had smoked for an average of 26.7 years.

The six-week study, conducted by researchers at the Rutgers School of Public Health, included 177 male and transgender female inmates from seven correctional facilities. The study participants were at least 18 years of age and smoked at least five cigarettes per day in the week prior to the start of the study. Participants were given nicotine replacement patches and group sessions that covered cognitive social learning, lifestyle changes, coping, decision-making, maintenance, relapse prevention and long-term abstinence. Of the 177 enrolled, 102 participants were considered to have completed the program, which was defined as attending at least four of the six weekly sessions.

Exhaled breath carbon monoxide levels were collected from participants each week of the program at six of the sites and in weeks 1 and 6 in the seventh facility. The median CO reading of the 115 participants who were screened at the week 1 meeting was 18.0 parts per million. The median CO reading for the 80 participants screened at week 6 was 5.5 ppm.