title: Unplanned quitting in a triethnic sample of U.S. smokers.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Smokers who report quitting without prior planning have been shown to report longer abstinence compared with those who planned. Little is known about unplanned quitting (UQ) among U.S. smokers, minorities, or nondaily and light smokers.
  
  
  METHODS
  Using an online panel, we recruited equal numbers of Black, White, and Latino nondaily, light daily, and moderate/heavy daily smokers. Of the 1,127 who reported a past-year quit attempt, we queried whether it was planned and the maximum number of days abstinent.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Overall, 38% reported that their last quit attempt was unplanned. The impact of planned versus unplanned quitting interacted with smoking level and race. Among White moderate/heavy smokers, mean days abstinent was 99 for those who reported an unplanned quit attempt compared with 60 days for those who reported a planned attempt (p = .02). Among Black moderate/heavy smokers, the mean days abstinent was higher among those whose last attempt was planned, 92 days, compared with 56 days among those whose last attempt was unplanned (p = .09). The pattern among Latinos resembled Whites but was not significant. Results remained after adjusting for confounds such as age, gender, education, income, time to first cigarette, and menthol use. There were no significant differences in abstinence by quit type for light or nondaily smokers.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Future studies are needed to elucidate why UQ appears to have differential effectiveness across racial/ethnic groups and different levels of cigarette use. Research examining the impact of UQ on long-term quitting, which is not addressed here, is needed.
authors.affiliation: Department of Health Behavior and Health Education, University of Michigan, School of Public Health, Ann Arbor, MI;
authors.forename: Ken
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Resnicow
authors.forename: Yan
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zhou
authors.forename: Taneisha S
authors.initials: TS
authors.lastname: Scheuermann
authors.forename: Nicole L
authors.initials: NL
authors.lastname: Nollen
authors.forename: Jasjit S
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: Ahluwalia
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001741:Black or African American / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006630:Hispanic or Latino / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006801:Humans; D033182:Intention; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012907:Smoking / Q000208:ethnology*; D016540:Smoking Cessation / Q000208:ethnology* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D014481:United States; D044465:White People / Q000706:statistics & numerical data