Dr Hughes has received fees from companies who develop smoking cessation devices, medications and services, from governmental and academic institutions, and from public and private organizations that promote tobacco education or control.
Presenter(s)
Professor John Hughes Professor of Psychiatry, Departments of Psychiatry and Psychological Science, The University of Vermont, USA
Abstract
Few studies have examined the process of making a quit attempt. Our current description of quit attempts, drawn from studies of those in clinical trials or retrospective surveys, suggest smokers make a quit date, smoke as usual till then, try to quit, and if they fail, try again several months or years later. We conducted four prospective studies of smokers who intended to quit sometime in the next 3 months and reported their smoking nightly for 3 months. We found several unexpected results (several of which contradicted retrospective study results); e.g., a) most smokers made multiple quit attempts and new quit attempts often occurred within a few days of relapsing, b) very few set quit dates, c) spontaneous quit attempts were common but were less likely to succeed than planned quit attempts, d) reduction attempts were also very common, e) failed quit attempts did not appear to discourage smokers, and f) embarrassment and cost concerns, not health concerns, were the most common and most powerful cues for quitting.
These results suggest continuing contacts with and offering treatment to those who have failed could increase overall quit rates. Other clinical and policy implications of our results will be discussed.
Declaration of interest: US National Institutes of Health.
