Smoking quit rates among patients receiving pharmacotherapy who received general practitioner counselling versus intensive counselling: a retrospective cohort study

Experiences with smoking habits and the need for cessation among habitual smokers in Japan: a qualitative study based on semi-structured interviews

BACKGROUND

Although more than half of the habitual smokers recognize that they want to quit smoking cigarettes, approximately half have failed to quit and experienced distress relapse; therefore, there is an urgent need to focus on these populations. When chronic behavior occurs, it is necessary to view the behavior in the context of the entire life of the person involved, considering the history of the person. In this study, we aimed to describe experiences with smoking from the onset to the present and the need for smoking cessation among habitual smokers in Japan and to explore efforts to address them.

METHODS

Semi-structured interviews that lasted for 55-90 min were conducted with the cooperation of 16 habitual smokers who smoked cigarettes daily. The content of the interviews included demographic characteristics, experiences with smoking from the onset to the present, whether they have attempted to quit and related experiences, and their thoughts on smoking. Interviews were transcribed verbatim and analyzed qualitatively. The Medical Research Ethics Review Committee of Jikei University approved this study (approval number: 33-384(11008)).

RESULTS

The participants were aged 26-59 years (mean ± SD: 40.8 ± 8.9 years) and included 10 men and 6 women. The participants started smoking between age 13 and 24 years. The highest number of cigarettes smoked in the participants' lives ranged from 10 to 80 daily, and 12 participants had attempted to quit smoking so far without success. Regarding experiences with smoking from the onset to the present, four themes of "expand one's world," "unconscious attachment," "attempts and failures," and "losing oneself" were extracted. Regarding the need for smoking cessation, four themes of "empowerment from experts," "peer interaction," "social commitment," and "recovery of confidence" were extracted.

CONCLUSION

To support smoking cessation from the perspective of habitual smokers, in addition to improvements through the existing approaches, it is important to recover their confidence using ongoing activities in peer groups according to the target background and support from experts incorporating visual assessments of lung function, along with multiple short-term goals. It is also necessary to raise awareness in communities through activities.

Smoking cessation - better together: A retrospective cohort study

INTRODUCTION

Smoking is the leading preventable cause of death and illness globally. There is conflicting evidence regarding the association between quitting rates and partners' smoking status. It is thought that spouses influence one another's health habits, including smoking. This study aims to evaluate this association in patients who made a smoking cessation attempt with pharmacotherapy.

METHODS

For this Israeli nationwide retrospective cohort study, we randomly selected patients who filled a prescription for varenicline as part of their smoking cessation process and were partnered. The participants were asked to complete a questionnaire 26-52 weeks after the first varenicline purchase. The independent variables were the partner's smoking status at the beginning of the smoking cessation process and while answering the questionnaire. The outcome was a success in the quitting process.

RESULTS

In all, 226 (50%) participants had partners who smoked at the beginning of the quitting process, and 230 (50%) had non-smoking partners; 178 (39%) participants reported successful smoking cessation. There was a significant difference in success rates depending on partners' smoking status at the end of the process, with success rates of 39% with a non-smoking partner, 76% with a partner who also stopped smoking, and 31% with a partner who continued smoking (p<0.001). Multivariate analysis showed that having a partner who stopped smoking during the quitting process was associated with higher odds of quitting compared with having a non-smoking partner (OR=4.73; 95% CI: 1.86-12.05).

CONCLUSIONS

This study showed that both partners quitting was associated with increased odds of successful quitting. Health providers should make efforts to engage both partners in smoking cessation.