Smoking habits and cessation success. What differs among adults and elderly?

OBJECTIVE: To determine factors affecting smoking cessation success in different age groups.

METHODS: This was an intervention study consisting of 761 patients attending the Balcova Municipality, Smoke Cessation Center, Izmir, Turkey, between November 2009 and December 2011. Variables were successful smoking cessation for one year, socio-demographic features, previous attempts at smoking cessation, a smoking spouse, nicotine dependency level, risk of depression, method of smoking cessation, presence of chronic disease, and decreasing smoking in the last year. Data was analyzed by logistic regression.

RESULTS: Approximately 43.8% of the elderly, and 62.7% of the adults reduced the number of cigarettes smoked in the past year. Approximately 83.6% of the elderly and 90.6% of the adults reported previously smoking 11 or more cigarettes daily. Two-thirds of the participants in both groups had tried smoking cessation. Smoking cessation was 49% in the elderly group and 33.4% in the adult group. The logistic regression test showed that moderate and less nicotine dependency level increased the success of cessation in the elderly group (odds ratio [OR]=2.39, 95% confidence interval [95% CI] 1.11-5.17, p=0.026), while in the adult group: increasing age (OR=1.02, 95% CI: 1.01-1.04, p=0.044), male gender (OR=1.69, 95% CI: 1.07-2.68, p=0.025), moderate and less nicotine dependency level (OR=1.65, 95% CI: 1.09-2.49, p=0.018), and the use of medication (OR=1.70, 95% CI: 1.13-2.56, p=0.011) increased the success.

CONCLUSION: Different variables in different age groups may affect successful smoking cessation. These should be taken into consideration in efforts at smoking cessation.