Characteristics Of Smokers With Type 2 Diabetes Research Paper Example

Introduction

The purpose of the secondary analysis by the authors of the article was to identify the characteristics of smokers with type 2 diabetes who had been enrolled in a smoking cessation program. This research is chosen because it serves as a guide to establishing the barriers that hinder smokers with type 2 diabetes from quitting smoking. The background knowledge available is that smoking has dire consequences especially in persons with type 2 diabetes. Helping this vulnerable section of the population to quit smoking lowers the risk of their diabetes becoming fatal or becoming unmanageable. To be able to help these people to quit smoking, it is fundamental that the barriers that bar them from ceasing tobacco use are established so that ways to get past these barriers are developed to increase the success rate. Moreover, knowing the characteristics of smokers with type 2 diabetes can be useful in enabling health care providers develop the most effective strategies to use in helping diabetics to quit smoking.
Previous researches have indicated that illnesses that result due to tobacco consumption are the leading cause of preventable death in the United States, killing 443,000 people in 2010. Seventy percent of smokers desire to cease smoking and almost half try it annually. Moreover, smoking increases the risk of a person to develop cardiovascular disease, lung disease, stroke, and cancer. Additionally, studies indicate that smoking has a relation to the development of diabetes. More studies indicate that smoking increases the risk of individuals experiencing micro vascular and macrovascular disease, as well as coronary artery and cardiovascular disease. Currently diabetes kills 26 million adults and is considered to be a major cause of stroke and heart disease. Moreover, diabetes is seventh on the log as the major causes of death in United States.
The researchers state that more research is necessary because it will be crucial in creating an extensive database of knowledge that can be crucial in providing information useful in control of tobacco use. Moreover, the extensive body of knowledge will be guide healthcare providers to develop counseling strategies that are in tandem with the needs of smokers with type 2 diabetes. Extensive research will important in availing ways that can be useful in increasing the quit rates of smokers in future times. The result of all these efforts will go a long way towards reducing the economic impact of both smoking and diabetes to the nation.
The aim of this comparative descriptive study using a secondary data analysis was to identify the characteristics of smokers with type 2diabetes enrolled in a tobacco dependence treatment program, comparing those who quit smoking to those who do not. The study identified possible predictors of success or failure in achieving abstinence among smokers with type 2 diabetes. The following research questions were presented to accomplish the aim of the study:

What are the characteristics of smokers with type 2 diabetes voluntarily enrolled in a tobacco dependence treatment program?

Which characteristics are associated with success in smoking cessation?
Methods: Participants and Procedure
The sample was made up of 227 smokers. All the participants were 18 years and older. The females were 106 representing 46.5% percent and the males were 121 representing 53.3%. The mean age of participants was 55.3 years. Out of the 227 people studied, 125 provided their ethnicities. The majority of the 125 who provided their ethnicities were Caucasians accounting for 70.4%. Africa-Americans accounted for 14.4%, 8% were Hispanics, and 7.2% came from other ethnicities. All the participants had type 2 diabetes. The study ran from 2002 through to 2012. The adult participants had voluntarily enrolled in an IRB-approved smoking program that ran for six weeks. The program was designed to help the participants to cease smoking. All participants were offered weekly support group sessions after they had completed the 6-weelk course. The program provided counseling, cessation medications, tobacco education, and support. The cessation medications that the smokers used in this study included gum, inhalers, lozenges, and nicotine patches. The previously collected data was analyzed to determine the characteristics of smokers who had type 2 diabetes who had voluntarily enrolled in the cessation program.
Furthermore, information about the quit smoking status was collected 30 days and 6 months after the designated quit date from who had attended the program. The quit status was reported by participants after it which it was verified with a carbon-dioxide meter after 30 days had elapsed. Additionally, 6 month cessation were collected through the participants self-reporting and ultimately verified with a carbon monoxide meter when feasible.
About procedures, question regarding demographics, smoking history, and co-morbidities had been developed by original researches that came up with the program in 1999. Original researchers initiated the program at a time when few studies had examined the characteristics of persons who had been enrolled in a smoking cessation program that was strictly clinical.

Materials and Measures

In this study, the questionnaire that had been developed by the original researchers was used to collect data. This questionnaire included the Fagerstrom Test for Nicotine Dependence (FIND). The author of this instrument, Dr. Fagerstrom provided the consent for the analysts to use it. The FIND is a six-item test was designed to determine the level of nicotine dependence for a smoker. The scores for this instrument range from 0 to 10. Lower scores indicate low dependence and higher scores indicate high dependence. Several studies confirm that FIND is reliable and its correlation coefficient ranges from 0.65 to 0.91. Moreover, one study found out that FIND is a satisfactory instrument with a sensitivity of 0.75 and specificity of 0.80.

Results

Two hundred twenty-seven smokers with type 2 diabetes completed the research program questionnaire. Two hundred of participants representing 92.5% had attempted to quit smoking in the past. Forty two point five of these indicated general stress as the reason of their relapse, 25.2% did not identify a possible reason for their relapse, 3.8% reported weight-gain as the trigger of their relapse. Surprisingly, 26.4% reported that weight gain was the obstacle that hindered them to quit smoking. There was a higher likelihood of women to report weight gain as an obstacle to quit smoking compared to men. The mean number of pack years for the sample was 44.72%. Twenty four percent of the participants reported being a hospitalization in the past year. Majority of the participants scored moderate nicotine dependence. Only 38.3% of the participants reported a high dependence of nicotine. A majority of those who participated in the study were substantially ready to quit smoking. In addition, 72% of the participants reported that general health consequences as the reason that triggered them to quit smoking. Being pressurized by family and friends was also key reason that pushed participants to quit smoking. Main obstacles that hindered the participants from quitting smoking included loss of stress reliever, enjoyment of cigarettes and cravings that were unable to bear.

Research limitations

The study design is a limitation of this research. It only examined the characteristics of a convenience sample of smokers with type 2 diabetes who had enrolled in the cessation program. The motivation of these individuals might have been the desire to quit smoking as compared with smokers in other settings. Hence the study was not representative enough of all smokers with type 2 diabetes. Moreover, the study did not include teenage smokers and only focused on adult smokers. There exist teenage smokers who also suffer from type 2 diabetes. The research concentrated on cigarette smoking and failed to examine people who use other forms of tobacco and who suffer from type 2 diabetes. This is a serious limitation because there are other people who use tobacco through other means other than smoking and who suffer from type 2 diabetes.

References

Folan, P., Savrin, C., & McDonald, P. E. (2014). Characteristics of smokers with type 2 diabetes. Applied Nursing Research, 27(1), 72-77.