Efeitos da cessação do tabagismo na alteração ponderal : estudo de coorte prospectiva de vida real

Abstract

Introduction: Weight gain is a major concern in patients seeking smoking cessation, being an important barrier for both starting an attempt to stop smoking and maintaining long abstinence. Objective: To evaluate the weight changes after 12 months of smoking abstinence. We also intended to identify risk factors for weight changes. Methods: This study was conducted at the Smoking Cessation Clinic, Hospital São Lucas, in Porto Alegre, Brazil, from June 2007 to June 2016. In a real life cohort design, smokers submitted to cognitive-behavior therapy and pharmacotherapies for smoking cessation were included. The baseline and final weights were measured and the smoking cessation was confirmed by exhaled CO <10ppm and patient's confirmation of being abstinent. Results: From the 348 included volunteers, 187(53.7%) subjects failed to stop smoking but 161 patients quit smoking and maintained abstinence for 12 months. Regarding weight change, 104(64.6%) subjects maintained their initial weight or had a shift up or down of less than 5%. Another group increased their weight more than 5% (n=57; 35.4%). Only 18 patients (11.2%) increased >10% of their initial weight. We detected no risk factor associated with weight increase greater than 5%. The number needed to harm associated to smoking cessation was 3.4(95%CI 2.6-5.2). Conclusion: Our results show that weight gain not necessarily associates to smoking cessation and a high percentage of quitters maintain or even lose weight. This information may be useful to address to the still undecided smoker concerned about possible weight gain. This strategy will be probably useful in every level of clinical attendance, but especially in Primary Care Units.