title: Smoking cessation in older adults.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Older smokers are often not encouraged to quit smoking due to the erroneous idea that it is too late for such interventions.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To compare smoking cessation rates among older and younger treatment seekers, and to evaluate whether age is an obstacle to smoking cessation.
  
  
  METHODS
  Smokers (n = 987) were submitted to the same behavioural programme plus pharmacotherapy at the Smoking Cessation Clinic of Hospital Sao Lucas, in Porto Alegre, Brazil, from July 2004 to June 2009. Quit rates were evaluated at 2, 6 and 12 months. Abstinence was confirmed by exhaled carbon monoxide < 10 ppm. Volunteers were grouped by age <60 and ≥ 60 years.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Abstinence rates (± SD) in the younger group were respectively 57.1% (± 1.9), 46.8% (± 2.1) and 43.5% (± 2.7) at 2, 6 and 12 months of follow-up. Rates for the ≥ 60 year group were respectively 67.4% (± 4.3), 52.3% (± 5.4) and 53.3% (± 5.4; log rank test, P = 0.073). The difference was also not statistically significant using Cox regression (adjusted HR 0.90, 95%CI 0.66-1.22, P = 0.48).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  In this real-world setting, treatment for smoking cessation led to similar abstinence rates in older and younger smokers. These results may have implications for clinical practice and smoking cessation policies for low- and middle-income countries such as Brazil.
authors.affiliation: Hospital São Lucas da Pontifícia Universidade Católica Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, Brazil.
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Jeremias
authors.forename: J M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Chatkin
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Chatkin
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Seibert
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Martins
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Wagner
mesh_terms: D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D001938:Brazil / Q000453:epidemiology; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012307:Risk Factors; D012907:Smoking / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000453:epidemiology*; D016540:Smoking Cessation / Q000379:methods* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D016896:Treatment Outcome