Abstract
Background
Smoking is one of the main preventable causes of diseases and a major challenge for public health. Primary Health Care (PHC) is the level of health care with the greatest potential for managing tobacco cessation.
Objective
The objective was to describe the results of smoking cessation in groups included in a public smoking treatment program over 11 years.
Methods
Retrospective study of the historical series type of smoking groups developed between 2006 and 2016 in the 12 health units of the Community Health Service of Grupo Hospitalar Conceição (GHC), Porto Alegre-RS. Data were collected in the Annual Health Indicator Reports and the GHC Information System. Descriptive analyzes were performed using absolute and relative frequencies.
Results
Of the 2,691 smokers monitored, 1,273 (47%) quit smoking until the fourth session of the group.
Discussion
Smoking cessation in groups contributed to more than half of the participants being able to quit smoking over 4 weeks of treatment groups. This is an important accessible and efficient therapeutic strategy to assist and provide comprehensive care to smokers in the context of PHC.
Keywords:
tobacco use disorder; tobacco; tobacco use cessation; Primary Health Care