To determine the relationship between smoking status and clinical characteristics of schizophrenic patients.

It was a cross-sectional study. One hundred and seventy-five schizophrenic outpatients were assessed by the Positive And Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS), the Global Assessment of Functioning Scale (GAF), the scale of measurement of abnormal involuntary movements (AIMS) and by the rating scale akathisia caused by a drug Thomas Barnes. Current smokers (n = 85) were compared to non-smokers (n = 90) on clinical variables.

The mean number of cigarettes was 15 cig/day. In our sample, current smokers account for half of the patients and were exclusively men. Smokers were significantly more single patients (76.5 vs. 58.9, P = 0.01). There were no significant differences between smokers and non-smokers regarding clinical variables, including age of onset of the disease, the duration of the disease, the severity of positive and negative symptoms, and GAF scores. Smoking was significantly associated with more frequent prescription of conventional neuroleptics (98.8 vs. 92%, P = 0.03) and poorer adherence to treatment (77 vs. 62.2%, P = 0.02). There were no significant differences between the 2 groups regarding the average doses of neuroleptics, the presence of extrapyramidal signs, scores on the AIMS score and akathisia.

Smoking is common in patients suffering from schizophrenia. Smoking status should be considered in the assessment of neuroleptic treatment in schizophrenia.

The authors have not supplied their declaration of competing interest.