STANDARD AURICULOTHERAPY OPERATIONAL PROCEDURE TO MINIMIZE ANXIETY FRAMEWORK IN A SMOKING GROUP
Key words: smoking; Substance Withdrawal Syndrome; mental health; complementary therapies; auriculotherapy.
Smoking is a major public health problem and reducing its prevalence is challenging. The desire to quit smoking involves multifactorial and quite complex aspects. People who wish to stop using tobacco deal with the symptoms of withdrawal syndrome, where anxiety and irritability are predominantly present. Objective: Deploy auriculotherapy care envisionig the control anxiety in people who participate in a group to combat smoking, in a health service at a Federal University. Method: This is a Convergent Care Research (PCA), with a descriptive and exploratory character, with a qualitative approach. The population of this research corresponded to UFRN employees enrolled in the “healthiest without a cigarette” group, but who were still using tobacco. For data collection, an anamnesis script, semi-structured interview, Fagerström Test for Nicotine Dependence and Beck's Anxiety Inventory were used. To carry out the data analysis, the content analysis proposed by Minayo (2013) was made. Results and discussion: The nicotine withdrawal syndrome was evidenced by the participants as difficult to cope with. Anxiety, stress and irritability were symptoms evidenced in previous attempts to quit smoking. These symptoms were confirmed in the current study, but reported as less intense, with auriculotherapy having been attributed this minimization of the discomfort felt. Auriculotherapy was seen as a promoter of a feeling of relaxation, calm and control of adverse emotional situations, in addition to acting in minimizing anxiety and reducing the urge to smoke. Thus, the results of this study supported the recommendation to implement auriculotherapy in later groups. Final considerations: The adoption of strategies that can help to cope with the withdrawal syndrome is essential for the successful treatment of smoking. The implantation of auriculotherapy in later groups at DAS/UFRN was seen as positive, essential and viable. The Standard Operating Procedure (SOP), built as a product of this work, aims at the continuity and effective implementation of this therapy as a complementary care tool for the pre-existing smoking group.