DOI: 10.36347/sasjm.2022.v08i09.016

Pages: 661-667

Tobacco is the leading cause of preventable death worldwide. Numerous studies have shown that the frequency of smoking in schizophrenic patients is significantly higher than in the general population or in other psychiatric disorders, which hinders both treatment strategies and the efficacy of antipsychotics. The objectives of our study are: to highlight the prevalence of smoking in this population, to assess its dependence on nicotine, as well as to support the difficulties of its management. We conducted a cross-sectional study of 186 patients, hospitalized at Ar-razi Hospital in Salé, using the Fagerström scale, associated with a questionnaire that included age, marital status, educational level, occupation, duration of psychiatric follow-up, somatic comorbidities, current treatment, other substances used, withdrawal attempts, age of first cigarette, family history of smoking, and finally, number of cigarettes per day before and then after psychiatric diagnosis. The frequency of tobacco use in our schizophrenic patients was high. Unfortunately, these patients remain poorly aware of the harms of tobacco, hence the need to integrate a tobacco control strategy into the hospital management of schizophrenia.