Cigarette Smoking and HIV/AIDS: Health Implications, Smoker Characteristics and Cessation Strategies

Although mortality attributable to AIDS-related diseases has decreased dramatically in the current era of combination antiretroviral therapy, the proportion of deaths attributable to other diseases (e.g., cardiovascular, pulmonary, and cancer) in this population has markedly increased. Thus, efforts to reduce morbidity and mortality attributable to these non-AIDS-defining diseases represent an important public health priority. One approach to improve health outcomes for the HIV-positive population is to target health risk behaviors, such as cigarette smoking. Existing evidence indicates that smoking prevalence is significantly elevated among persons living with HIV/AIDS. In addition, smoking is associated with numerous HIV-related adverse outcomes. To date, surprisingly few efforts have been made to develop smoking cessation interventions for the HIV-positive population. However, results from the studies that have been published indicate that smoking cessation interventions, both novel and more traditional, are potentially efficacious. Moreover, existing findings support the feasibility of smoking cessation treatment within busy HIV clinics.