Smoking cessation rates in the United States: a comparison of young adult and older smokers.
OBJECTIVE
We compared smoking quit rates by age in a nationally representative sample to determine differences in cessation rates among younger and older adults.


METHODS
We used data on recent dependent smokers aged 18 to 64 years from the 2003 Tobacco Use Supplement to the Current Population Survey (n=31625).


RESULTS
Young adults (aged 18-24 years) were more likely than were older adults (aged 35-64 years) to report having seriously tried to quit (84% vs 66%, P<.01) and to have quit for 6 months or longer (8.5% vs 5.0%, P<.01). Among those who seriously tried to quit, a smoke-free home was associated with quitting for 6 months or longer (odds ratio [OR]=4.13; 95% confidence interval [CI]=3.25, 5.26). Compared with older smokers, young adults were more likely to have smoke-free homes (43% vs 30%, P<.01), were less likely to use pharmaceutical aids (9.8% vs 23.7%, P<.01), and smoked fewer cigarettes per day (13.2% vs 17.4%, P<.01).


CONCLUSIONS
Young adults were more likely than were older adults to quit smoking successfully. This could be explained partly by young adults, more widespread interest in quitting, higher prevalence of smoke-free homes, and lower levels of dependence. High cessation rates among young adults may also reflect changing social norms.
Messer
Karen
K
Cancer Prevention and Control Program, Moores UCSD Cancer Center, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA 92093-0901, USA.
Trinidad
Dennis R
DR
Al-Delaimy
Wael K
WK
Pierce
John P
JP
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D003625:Data Collection; D005260:Female; D006798:Housing; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012907:Smoking / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000628:therapy; D016540:Smoking Cessation / Q000379:methods / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D014029:Tobacco Use Disorder / Q000453:epidemiology; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology