Coffee and cigarette consumption and perceived effects in recovering alcoholics participating in Alcoholics Anonymous in Nashville, Tennessee, USA.

Background: Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) members represent an important and relatively understudied population for improving our understanding of alcohol dependence recovery as over 1 million Americans participate in the program. Further insight into coffee and cigarette use by these individuals is necessary given AA members' apparent widespread consumption and the recognized health consequences and psychopharmacological actions of these substances.

Methods: Volunteers were sought from all open-AA meetings in Nashville, TN during the summer of 2007 to complete a questionnaire (n = 289, completion rate = 94.