Background:
While Ireland has made considerable progress in tackling the harms caused by smoking, 1 in 5 adults (18%) continue to smoke, and inequalities are widening. People with mental disorders risk being left behind as Ireland pursues its tobacco endgame goal, but smoking and quitting behaviour have been poorly described in this group.

Objectives:
1) To quantify and describe tobacco product use patterns in people with self-reported probable mental disorders (PMD) in Ireland. 2) To quantify the prevalence of smoking, quitting behaviours quit aid use in adults with self-reported mental disorders. 3) To quantify contact with health professionals and stop-smoking care by those with self-reported mental disorders.

Methods:
A secondary analysis of the 2021 Healthy Ireland (HI) survey dataset was conducted. The HI Survey is conducted annually with a representative sample of the population aged 15 years and older (n=7,454). Descriptive statistics and logistic regression compared smoking and quitting behaviours across those with and without a PMD.

Results:
Smoking prevalence was significantly higher in those with a PMD than those without (26.1%-v-16.9%, p<0.001). There was no difference in positive intention to quit (p=0.21) and making a quit attempt in the past 12 months was similar (p=0.856) across both groups. However, making a successful quit attempt was higher in those without a PMD compared to those with a PMD (27.7%-v-24%, p<0.001). This is despite those with PMD having more frequent contact with healthcare staff than those without (p<0.001).

Conclusions:
While people with PMD have a need and interest in stopping smoking, these findings underline a gap in the provision of stop smoking care to this group which means they risk being left behind as Ireland becomes tobacco-free. This study will act as a catalyst for greater focus in the fight against the ongoing epidemic of smoking related harm in Ireland.