title: Gender differences in medication use and cigarette smoking cessation: results from the International Tobacco Control Four Country Survey.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  There is conflicting evidence for gender differences in smoking cessation, and there has been little research on gender differences in smoking cessation medication (SCM) use and effectiveness. Using longitudinal data from the International Tobacco Control Four Country Surveys (ITC-4) conducted in the United Kingdom, the United States, Canada, and Australia, we examined gender differences in the incidence of quit attempts, reasons for quitting, use of SCMs, reasons for discontinuing use of SCMs, and rates of smoking cessation.
  
  
  METHODS
  Data were analyzed from adult smokers participating in the ITC-4, annual waves 2006-2011 (n = 7,825), as well as a subsample of smokers (n = 1,079) who made quit attempts within 2 months of survey. Adjusted modeling utilized generalized estimating equations.
  
  
  RESULTS
  There were no gender differences in the likelihood of desire to quit, plans to quit, or quit attempts between survey waves. Among quit attempters, women had 31% lower odds of successfully quitting (OR = 0.69; 95% CI = 0.51, 0.94). Stratified by medication use, quit success was lower among women who did not use any SCMs (OR = 0.59; 95% CI = 0.39, 0.90), and it was no different from men when medications were used (OR = 0.73; 95% CI = 0.46, 1.16). In particular, self-selected use of nicotine patch and varenicline contributed to successful quitting among women.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Women may have more difficulty quitting than men, and SCMs use may help attenuate this difference.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT;
authors.forename: Philip H
authors.initials: PH
authors.lastname: Smith
authors.affiliation: Division of Cancer Prevention and Population Sciences, Roswell Park Cancer Institute, Buffalo, NY;
authors.forename: Karin A
authors.initials: KA
authors.lastname: Kasza
authors.affiliation: Department of Health Behavior, Roswell Park Cancer Institute, Buffalo, NY;
authors.forename: Andrew
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Hyland
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology and School of Public Health and Health Systems, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, Ontario, Canada;
authors.forename: Geoffrey T
authors.initials: GT
authors.lastname: Fong
authors.affiliation: VicHealth Center for Tobacco Control, Cancer Council Victoria, Victoria, Australia;
authors.forename: Ron
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Borland
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Medical University of South Carolina , Charleston, SC.
authors.forename: Kathleen
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Brady
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Medical University of South Carolina , Charleston, SC.
authors.forename: Matthew J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Carpenter
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Medical University of South Carolina , Charleston, SC.
authors.forename: Karen
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Hartwell
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Medical University of South Carolina , Charleston, SC.
authors.forename: K Michael
authors.initials: KM
authors.lastname: Cummings
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT; sherry.mckee@yale.edu.
authors.forename: Sherry A
authors.initials: SA
authors.lastname: McKee
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001315:Australia / Q000453:epidemiology; D001552:Benzazepines / Q000627:therapeutic use; D002170:Canada / Q000453:epidemiology; D005260:Female; D005783:Gender Identity; D006801:Humans; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009042:Motivation; D009538:Nicotine / Q000627:therapeutic use; D018722:Nicotinic Agonists / Q000627:therapeutic use; D011810:Quinoxalines / Q000627:therapeutic use; D012907:Smoking / Q000453:epidemiology; D016540:Smoking Cessation / Q000379:methods*; D000074606:Smoking Prevention; D013375:Substance Withdrawal Syndrome / Q000188:drug therapy*; D006113:United Kingdom / Q000453:epidemiology; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology; D000068580:Varenicline
chemical_list: D001552:Benzazepines; D018722:Nicotinic Agonists; D011810:Quinoxalines; D009538:Nicotine; D000068580:Varenicline