July 8, 2010 - Many smokers claim that smoking helps relieve them of stress and fear that quitting will increase their stress level by eliminating this source of stress relief.  “The Effect of Stopping Smoking on Perceived Stress Level,” which was a study recently published in Addiction, supports that using smoking as a stress management tool may not be as effective as many smokers perceive it to be.

Researchers Hajek et al. studied post cessation stress levels by following a cohort of 469 smokers who wanted to quit smoking after having been admitted to the hospital for either a myocardial infarction or coronary artery bypass surgery since these sub groups generally have higher levels of continuous abstinence.  Study participants were asked to rate how helpful they thought smoking to be in managing their stress level, their smoking status, and their perceived stress level at baseline and then were surveyed one year later to determine their smoking status and perceived stress level.

Results showed that 41% of the patients maintained abstinence for one year and that the baseline stress levels of both abstainers and continuing smokers were similar.  However, those who were found to be abstainers at follow-up had a significantly greater decrease in perceived stress levels than those who had continued smoking, even after controlling for confounding factors.  These results will hopefully be used to show smokers that smoking may in fact be increasing their stress level and negate their fears that quitting will eliminate a needed source of stress relief.  This study has exposed yet another added benefit of smoking cessation, decreased stress.

For more information please visit: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov.proxygw.wrlc.org/pubmed/20528815