Frontiers in Psychiatry (Jul 2022)

Differential trajectories of tobacco smoking in people at ultra-high risk for psychosis: Associations with clinical outcomes

  • Frederike Schirmbeck,
  • Els van der Ven,
  • Lindy-Lou Boyette,
  • Philip McGuire,
  • Lucia R. Valmaggia,
  • Matthew J. Kempton,
  • Mark van der Gaag,
  • Anita Riecher-Rössler,
  • Neus Barrantes-Vidal,
  • Neus Barrantes-Vidal,
  • Barnaby Nelson,
  • Barnaby Nelson,
  • Marie-Odile Krebs,
  • Stephan Ruhrmann,
  • Gabriele Sachs,
  • Bart P. F. Rutten,
  • Merete Nordentoft,
  • EU-GEI High Risk Study Group,
  • Lieuwe de Haan,
  • Jentien M. Vermeulen,
  • Maria Calem,
  • Stefania Tognin,
  • Gemma Modinos,
  • Sara Pisani,
  • Emily P. Hedges,
  • Eva Velthorst,
  • Tamar C. Kraan,
  • Daniella S. van Dam,
  • Nadine Burger,
  • Athena Politis,
  • Joanne Goodall,
  • Stefan Borgwardt,
  • Erich Studerus,
  • Ary Gadelha,
  • Elisa Brietzke,
  • Graccielle Asevedo,
  • Elson Asevedo,
  • Andre Zugman,
  • Tecelli Domínguez-Martínez,
  • Manel Monsonet,
  • Lidia Hinojosa,
  • Paula Cristóbal,
  • Thomas R. Kwapil,
  • Mathilde Kazes,
  • Claire Daban,
  • Julie Bourgin,
  • Olivier Gay,
  • Célia Mam-Lam-Fook,
  • Dorte Nordholm,
  • Lasse Randers,
  • Kristine Krakauer,
  • Louise Birkedal Glenthøj,
  • Dominika Gebhard,
  • Julia Arnhold,
  • Joachim Klosterkötter,
  • Iris Lasser,
  • Bernadette Winklbaur,
  • Philippe A. Delespaul

DOI
https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyt.2022.869023
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 13

Abstract

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ObjectivePeople at ultra-high risk (UHR) for psychosis have a high prevalence of tobacco smoking, and rates are even higher among the subgroup that later develop a psychotic disorder. However, the longitudinal relationship between the course of tobacco smoking and clinical outcomes in UHR subjects is unknown.MethodsWe investigated associations between tobacco smoking and clinical outcomes in a prospective study of UHR individuals (n = 324). Latent class mixed model analyses were used to identify trajectories of smoking severity. Mixed effects models were applied to investigate associations between smoking trajectory class and the course of attenuated psychotic symptoms (APS) and affective symptoms, as assessed using the CAARMS.ResultsWe identified four different classes of smoking trajectory: (i) Persistently High (n = 110), (ii) Decreasing (n = 29), (iii) Persistently Low (n = 165) and (iv) Increasing (n = 20). At two-year follow-up, there had been a greater increase in APS in the Persistently High class than for both the Persistently Low (ES = 9.77, SE = 4.87, p = 0.046) and Decreasing (ES = 18.18, SE = 7.61, p = 0.018) classes. There were no differences between smoking classes in the incidence of psychosis. There was a greater reduction in the severity of emotional disturbance and general symptoms in the Decreasing class than in the High (ES = −10.40, SE = 3.41, p = 0.003; ES = −22.36, SE = 10.07, p = 0.027), Increasing (ES = −11.35, SE = 4.55, p = 0.014; ES = −25.58, SE = 13.17, p = 0.050) and Low (ES = −11.38, SE = 3.29, p = 0.001; ES = −27.55, SE = 9.78, p = 0.005) classes, respectively.ConclusionsThese findings suggests that in UHR subjects persistent tobacco smoking is associated with an unfavorable course of psychotic symptoms, whereas decrease in the number of cigarettes smoked is associated with improvement in affective symptoms. Future research into smoking cessation interventions in the early stages of psychoses is required to shine light on the potential of modifying smoking behavior and its relation to clinical outcomes.

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