PREDICTING FACTORS OF SMOKING CESSATION IN ACUTE CORONARY SYNDROME PATIENTS AFTER HOSPITAL DISCHARGE

Abstract

This study was a correlational study aimed to examine the direct and indirect relationships of the predictors of smoking cessation in acute coronary syndrome (ACS) patients following hospital discharge. The conceptual framework was developed based on literature review. Multi-stage sampling was used to recruit the samples. They were 161 ACS patient smokers from seven hospitals in Thailand. Data were collected from January 2014 to August 2015. Participants completed eight self-administered questionnaires. All questionnaires demonstrated acceptable content validity and reliability. The majority of the participants was male (95.7%), and mean age was 54.8 years old. One-third of the participant smoked 16-20 cigarettes per day (31.1%) and smoked 21-30 years before admission (31.4%). Path analysis (Lisrel 8.80) was used to test the relationship among variables. The findings revealed that the hypothesized model fit the empirical data and could explain 53% (Chi-square=2.75, df=3; p-value=.43, Chi-square/df=.92, GIF=.99, AGIF=.95, RMSEA=.00) of the variance of smoking cessation. Independent variables could significantly predict smoking cessation at significance level of .05. Self-efficacy in smoking cessation had a significant positive direct effect (β=.59) on smoking cessation. Previous CAD had a significant negative direct effect (β= -.34). Depressive symptom had a significant negative indirect effect on smoking cessation through self-efficacy in smoking cessation (β= -.27). The results demonstrated that self-efficacy in smoking cessation, previous CAD, and depressive symptom were the important factors influencing smoking cessation in ACS patients. Identifying these variables can be used to develop smoking cessation interventions to help ACS patients stop smoking.