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Smoking and tobacco
Research
Quitting experiences and preferences for a future quit attempt: a study among inpatient smokers
  1. Dennis Thomas1,
  2. Michael J Abramson2,
  3. Billie Bonevski3,
  4. Simone Taylor4,
  5. Susan G Poole1,5,
  6. Gregory R Weeks1,6,
  7. Michael J Dooley1,5,
  8. Johnson George1
  1. 1Faculty of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Centre for Medicine Use and Safety, Monash University (Parkville Campus), Parkville, Victoria, Australia
  2. 2Department of Epidemiology & Preventive Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences, Monash University, The Alfred, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
  3. 3School of Medicine & Public Health, Faculty of Health & Medicine, University of Newcastle, Callaghan, New South Wales, Australia
  4. 4Pharmacy Department, Austin Health, Heidelberg, Victoria, Australia
  5. 5Pharmacy Department, The Alfred, Prahran, Victoria, Australia
  6. 6Pharmacy Department, Barwon Health, Geelong, Victoria, Australia
  1. Correspondence to Dr Johnson George; Johnson.George{at}monash.edu

Abstract

Objective Understanding smokers’ quit experiences and their preferences for a future quit attempt may aid in the development of effective cessation treatments. The aims of this study were to measure tobacco use behaviour; previous quit attempts and outcomes; methods used to assist quitting; difficulties experienced during previous attempts; the motives and preferred methods to assist quitting in a future attempt; identify the factors associated with preferences for smoking cessation.

Design Face-to-face interview using a structured questionnaire.

Setting Inpatient wards of three Australian public hospitals.

Participants Hospitalised smokers enrolled in a smoking cessation trial.

Results Of 600 enrolled patients (42.8% participation rate), 64.3% (n=386) had attempted quitting in the previous 12 months. On a scale of 1 (low) to 10 (high), current motivation to quit smoking was high (median 9; IQR 6.5–10), but confidence was modest (median 5; IQR 3–8). Among 386 participants who reported past quit attempts, 69.9% (n=270) had used at least one cessation aid to assist quitting. Nicotine replacement therapy (NRT) was most commonly stated (222, 57.5%), although the majority had used NRT for <4 weeks. Hypnotherapy was the most common (68, 17.6%) non-pharmacological treatment. Over 80% (n=311) experienced withdrawal symptoms; craving and irritability were commonly reported. Most participants (351, 58.5%) believed medications, especially NRT (322, 53.7%), would assist them to quit in the future. History of previous smoking cessation medication use was the only independent predictor of interest in using medications for a future quit attempt.

Conclusions The majority of smokers had attempted quitting in the previous 12 months; NRT was a popular cessation treatment, although it was not used as recommended by most. This suggests a need for assistance in the selection and optimal use of cessation aids for hospitalised smokers.

Trial registration number Australian and New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry: ACTRN12612000368831.

  • PUBLIC HEALTH
  • PREVENTIVE MEDICINE

This is an Open Access article distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/

https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjopen-2014-006959

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