ISSUES AND INNOVATIONS IN NURSING PRACTICE Smoking habits and predictors of continued smoking in patients with acute coronary syndromes Mona From Attebring RN Doctoral Candidate, The Cardiovascular Institute, Division of Cardiology, Sahlgrenska University Hospital, Go ¨ teborg, Sweden Marianne Hartford MD PhD Associate Professor, The Cardiovascular Institute, Division of Cardiology, Sahlgrenska University Hospital, Go ¨ teborg, Sweden Agneta Hjalmarson PhD Clinical Psychologist, The Cardiovascular Institute, Division of Cardiology, Sahlgrenska University Hospital, Go ¨ teborg, Sweden Kenneth Caidahl MD PhD Associate Professor, Department of Clinical Physiology, Sahlgrenska University Hospital, Go ¨ teborg, Sweden Thomas Karlsson MSc Statistician, The Cardiovascular Institute, Division of Cardiology, Sahlgrenska University Hospital, Go ¨ teborg, Sweden Johan Herlitz MD PhD Associate Professor, The Cardiovascular Institute, Division of Cardiology, Sahlgrenska University Hospital, Go ¨ teborg, Sweden Submitted for publication 10 June 2003 Accepted for publication 11 October 2003 Correspondence: Mona From Attebring, The Cardiovascular Institute, Division of Cardiology, Sahlgrenska University Hospital, S-413 45 Go ¨ teborg, Sweden. E-mail: mona.attebring@vgregion.se ATTEBRING M.F., HARTFORD M., HJALMARSON A., CAIDAHL K., ATTEBRING M.F., HARTFORD M., HJALMARSON A., CAIDAHL K., KARLSSON T. & HERLITZ J. (2004) KARLSSON T. & HERLITZ J. (2004) Journal of Advanced Nursing 46(6), 614– 623 Smoking habits and predictors of continued smoking in patients with acute coronary syndromes Background. Most patients with acute coronary syndrome quit smoking when hospitalized, although several have been found to relapse and resume smoking within 3 months. Aim. This paper reports a study to identify factors that can predict who will resume smoking after hospitalization for an acute coronary syndrome. Methods. Patients (n ¼ 1320) below the age of 75 years, admitted to a Swedish university hospital coronary care unit with acute coronary syndromes, between September 1995 and September 1999, were consecutively included. Data were collected from hospital medical records and included information on previous clinical history, former illnesses and smoking. During their hospitalization, an experienced nurse interviewed the patients by using a structured questionnaire to obtain additional information. Patients were followed up 3 months after the dis- charge. Those who continued to smoke (non-quitters) were compared with those who had stopped (quitters) with regard to age, sex, medical history, clinical course, and intention to quit. To identify factors independently related to continued smo- king, a logistical regression in a formal forward stepwise mode was used. Results. Of the patients admitted, 33% were current smokers. Three months after discharge, 51% of these patients were still smoking. There were no significant 614 Ó 2004 Blackwell Publishing Ltd