Smoking Habits in Human Immunodeficiency Virus-Infected People from Italy: A Cross-Sectional Analysis of the STOPSHIV Cohort

In a nationwide Italian sample of people living with HIV (PLWH), the prevalence of smoking, nicotine dependence, propensity to stop smoking, and cardiovascular profile were investigated. The nicotine dependence by Fagerström test and the propensity to stop according to the stages of change were evaluated. Associations between smoking habits and patients' characteristics were analyzed using an unconditional logistic regression model. Among 1,087 PLWH (age 47.9 ± 10.8 years, men 73.5%), the prevalence of current smokers was 51.6%. The median of Fagerström test was 4 (interquartile range 2-6); 60.1% of the smokers were in precontemplation, 17.6% in contemplation, 18.7% in preparation, and 3.6% in action. In a logistic multivariate model, current smoking was associated with male sex, being divorced/widowed, Caucasian ethnicity, dyslipidemia, atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease risk, psychiatric comorbidity, hepatitis C virus infection, and alcohol abuse. Low high-density lipoprotein cholesterol level was associated with high nicotine dependence. More than 50% of PLWH were current smokers, one-Third of them showed a high or very high degree of dependence. Our findings draw attention to the need of smoking cessation strategies for PLWH.