Association of deferring a quit attempt with smoking cessation success: a secondary analysis.
Several smoking cessation treatments ask smokers to wait to quit to obtain treatment. We report a secondary analysis of whether a later quit attempt is associated with less success. In a placebo-controlled trial of varenicline that allowed smokers to set their quit date within 5 weeks after starting medication, 24% had their first quit attempt during week 1, and 27%, 19%, 18% and 12% in subsequent weeks. Continuous abstinence between 9 and 24 weeks declined over time; that is, from 36% to 37%, 35%, 29%, and 18% across the 5 weeks (p<0.001). The only statistically significant difference was between the last week and prior weeks. Whether a later quit attempt actually causes less success or is a marker for other variables (e.g., low motivation) is unclear.
University of Vermont, Dept of Psychiatry, UHC Campus, Mailstop #482, 1 South Prospect Street, Burlington, VT 05401 United States. Electronic address: john.hughes@uvm.edu.
John R
JR
Hughes
Cristina
C
Russ
Michael A
MA
Messig
D000328:Adult; D001552:Benzazepines / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D004311:Double-Blind Method; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009042:Motivation; D018722:Nicotinic Agonists / Q000008:administration & dosage; D011810:Quinoxalines / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D012907:Smoking / Q000453:epidemiology; D016540:Smoking Cessation / Q000379:methods*; D000074606:Smoking Prevention; D013997:Time Factors; D014029:Tobacco Use Disorder / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D000068580:Varenicline
D001552:Benzazepines; D018722:Nicotinic Agonists; D011810:Quinoxalines; D000068580:Varenicline
Deferred quit attempt; Delayed quitting; Gradual cessation; Postponing quitting; Smoking cessation; Varenicline