Introduction: Dual tobacco-alcohol addiction is common, but the literature often considers only the issue of withdrawal from
one substance at a time and emphasises that the assessment of tobacco use seems to be neglected in psychiatry.
Subject and methods: In this study, we analysed the perceptions of nurses working in alcoholism units before and after
motivational interviewing trainingon proposing concurrent alcohol-tobacco withdrawal to patients.
Results: Nurses, unlike psychiatry postgraduates, were able to achieve acomprehensive and systematic history of substance
abuse, but bothtended not to recommend concurrent tobacco-alcohol withdrawal. Training in motivational interviewing was inclined
to reverse this tendency.
Discussion: Reducing feelings of helplessness that carers experience when patientsrelapse is one of the factors to change.
Conclusion: Recommendations for the development of concurrent alcohol tobacco withdrawal programmes
