Talk to the Veterans Crisis Line now
U.S. flag
An official website of the United States government

VA Health Systems Research

Go to the VA ORD website
Go to the QUERI website

HSR&D Citation Abstract

Search | Search by Center | Search by Source | Keywords in Title

Tobacco use among Iraq- and Afghanistan-era veterans: a qualitative study of barriers, facilitators, and treatment preferences.

Gierisch JM, Straits-Tröster K, Calhoun PS, Beckham JC, Acheson S, Hamlett-Berry K. Tobacco use among Iraq- and Afghanistan-era veterans: a qualitative study of barriers, facilitators, and treatment preferences. Preventing chronic disease. 2012 Feb 16; 9:E58.

Related HSR&D Project(s)

Dimensions for VA is a web-based tool available to VA staff that enables detailed searches of published research and research projects.

If you have VA-Intranet access, click here for more information vaww.hsrd.research.va.gov/dimensions/

VA staff not currently on the VA network can access Dimensions by registering for an account using their VA email address.
   Search Dimensions for VA for this citation
* Don't have VA-internal network access or a VA email address? Try searching the free-to-the-public version of Dimensions



Abstract:

INTRODUCTION: Military service and combat exposure are risk factors for smoking. Although evidence suggests that veterans are interested in tobacco use cessation, little is known about their reasons for quitting, treatment preferences, and perceived barriers to effective tobacco use cessation treatment. Our study objective was to elicit perspectives of Iraq- and Afghanistan-era veterans who had not yet quit smoking postdeployment to inform the development of smoking cessation services for this veteran cohort. METHODS: We conducted 3 focus groups among 20 participants in October 2006 at the Durham Veterans Affairs Medical Center to explore issues on tobacco use and smoking cessation for Iraq- and Afghanistan-era veterans who continued to smoke postdeployment. We used qualitative content analysis to identify major themes and organize data. RESULTS: Veterans expressed the belief that smoking was a normalized part of military life and described multiple perceived benefits of smoking. Although veterans expressed a high level of interest in quitting, they listed several behavioral, situational, and environmental triggers that derailed smoking cessation. They expressed interest in such cessation treatment features as flexible scheduling, free nicotine replacement therapy, peer support, and family inclusion in treatment. CONCLUSION: Our results indicate that the newest cohort of veterans perceives smoking as endemic in military service. However, they want to quit smoking and identified several personal and environmental obstacles that make smoking cessation difficult. Our findings may inform programmatic efforts to increase successful quit attempts in this unique veteran population.





Questions about the HSR website? Email the Web Team

Any health information on this website is strictly for informational purposes and is not intended as medical advice. It should not be used to diagnose or treat any condition.