Are predictors of making a quit attempt the same as predictors of 3-month abstinence from smoking? Findings from a sample of smokers recruited for a study of computer-tailored smoking cessation advice in primary care

• Published in: Addiction (Abingdon, England) England), 2015-10, Vol.110 (10), p.1653-1664
• Main Authors: Kale, Dimitra, Gilbert, Hazel M., Sutton, Stephen
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Addiction; Adult; Attitude to Health; Demographic change; Demographics; Female; General population; Health care; Humans; Logistic Models; longitudinal study; Male; Marital Status; Middle Aged; Motivation; Multivariate Analysis; Nicotine; predictors; Primary care; Primary Health Care; quit attempt success; quit attempts; Smoking; Smoking - therapy; Smoking cessation; Smoking Cessation - methods; Social Class; Social Support; Social welfare; Therapy, Computer-Assisted - methods; Tobacco Use Disorder - therapy; Treatment Outcome; United Kingdom
• ISSN: 0965-2140; 1360-0443
• DOI: 10.1111/add.12972

Aims To identify predictors of quit attempts and of 3‐month abstinence from cigarette smoking. Design Secondary analysis of data gathered for a two‐armed randomized controlled trial with 6‐month follow‐up. Setting A total of 123 general practices across the United Kingdom. Participants A total of 4397 participants who completed the 6‐month follow‐up. Participants were categorized on self‐reported smoking behaviour at 6‐month follow‐up as non‐attempters (n = 2664), attempted quitters (n = 1548) and successful quitters (n = 185). Measures Demographic characteristics, smoking history and nicotine dependence, cognitive and social–environmental factors measured at baseline were examined as potential predictors of quit attempts and 3‐month abstinence. Findings Univariate predictors of quit attempts included commitment [odds ratio (OR) = 11.64, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 8.30–16.32], motivation (OR = 2.10, 95% CI = 1.98–2.22) and determination to quit (OR = 1.94, 95% CI = 1.83–2.05). Successful quitting was associated with being married (OR = 1.51, 95% CI = 1.11–2.05), lower social deprivation (OR = 0.47, 95% CI = 0.30–0.74), higher reading level (OR = 1.62, 95% CI = 1.19–2.21) and lower nicotine dependence (OR = 0.42, 95% CI = 0.29–0.62). Health problems related to smoking and previous quit attempts for 3 months or longer predicted both. In the multivariate analysis, the significant predictors of making a quit attempt were; later stage of readiness to quit (OR = 5.38, 95% CI = 3.67–7.89), motivation (OR = 1.48, 95% CI = 1.34–1.62) and determination to quit (OR = 1.16, 95% CI = 1.05–1.29) and health problems related to smoking (OR = 1.44, 95% CI = 1.18–1.75). For 3‐month abstinence, the only significant predictor was not having health problems related to smoking (OR = 0.50, 95% CI = 0.29–0.83). Conclusions While high motivation and determination to quit is necessary to prompt an attempt to quit smoking, demographic factors and level of nicotine dependence are more important for maintaining abstinence.