There is evidence that smoking cessation may improve depression and anxiety symptoms. We assessed the feasibility of implementing and trialling a smoking cessation intervention in services providing cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) for common mental illness.
This study was a pragmatic, two‐armed, randomised, multi‐centre, acceptability and feasibility trial of a co‐designed smoking cessation intervention (ISRCTN99531779) involving United Kingdom National Health Service (NHS)‐funded services treating depression or anxiety among four NHS Trusts. Participants comprised adult daily smokers starting CBT for depression or anxiety [mean age 35.6 years, standard deviation (SD) = 12.7, 89.6% white] who smoked 14.3 (SD = 8.2) cigarettes/day with mean Generalised Anxiety Disorder Questionnaire‐7 (GAD‐7) and Patient Health Questionnaire‐9 (PHQ‐9) scores of 13.1 (SD = 4.9) and 14.5 (SD = 6.0). Sixty‐eight participants were allocated to the treatment group and 67 to control.
Both groups received CBT for depression or anxiety. The treatment group also received up to 12 sessions of integrated smoking cessation support. The control group was signposted to smoking cessation services post‐treatment.
Follow‐up was at 3 and 6 months. The primary outcome was ‘study completion’ by 3 months. Other outcomes included acceptability, satisfaction, feasibility, data completeness and mental health.
At 3 months, treatment did not affect study completion [odds ratio (OR) = 0.81, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 0.31 to 2.09], did not harm mental health (PHQ‐9 difference: coefficient 0.01, 95% CI = −2.19 to 2.22); GAD‐7: coefficient 0.65, 95% CI = −1.59 to 2.90), but increased abstinence rates (OR = 8.69, 95% CI = 1.11 to 396.26). Recruitment was acceptable and key stakeholders were satisfied with the intervention.
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