Individuals with depression who participated in a smoking cessation clinic and stopped smoking reported improvement in depression 1 year later, suggesting that smoking abstinence may improve depression. To assess associations between depression and smoking abstinence, researchers conducted an observational study using data from a smoking cessation clinic in Czech Republic from 2008 to 2014. Analysis included two cohorts of 3,775 individuals, of which 14.3% reported mild and 15.4% reported moderate-to-severe depression at baseline, and 835 individuals who abstained from smoking for 1 year. Abstinence was lower among participants with mild (32.5%) and moderate/severe (25.8%) depression compared with participants without depression (40.5%). Most participants with baseline depression who abstained from smoking reported lower depression levels at follow-up.
Source: Stepankova L, et al. Smoking cessation may improve depression. Ann Behav Med. 2017;doi: 10.1007/s12160-016-9869-6.