Cost is an increasingly common reason to quit smoking
Health problems remain the main reason for more than half of those who say they want to quit smoking in England, but cost is now a key factor for more than 1 in 4, according to an analysis of national survey responses published in BMJ Public. . Health”, author Department of Behavioral Sciences and Health, University College London, UK, and the Edinburgh SPECTRUM Consortium also in the UK.
Given this change in mentality, A significant increase in potential savings could encourage more people to leave the business for good., the researchers suggest. Researchers explain that the main reasons why people try to quit smoking are usually health problems, as well as social and financial problems, as well as advice from a health professional.
The researchers examined time trends in reasons for trying to quit smoking. between March 2018 and May 2023, examining differences by age, gender, socioeconomic status, presence of children in the home, and smoking status.. They were based on responses to the Tobacco Tool Study, an ongoing monthly study of a representative sample of around 1,700 adults in England. The answers were limited those who currently smoke or have quit smoking in the past year and have made at least one serious attempt to quit smoking during this time.
Respondents were asked to name the reasons for their most recent attempt to quit smoking, including: advice from a health professional; Television advertising of a nicotine replacement product; advertising on state television/radio/press; new treatment to help you quit smoking; cost of tobacco; smoking restrictions; meeting someone who was quitting; health warnings on cigarette packs; contact your local NHS smoking cessation service; current or future health problems; attend local smoking cessation events or events; comments from relatives, friends, children; important birthday; pregnancy; a simple decision to quit smoking; COVID-19 pandemic.
Of 101,919 respondents between 2018 and 2023, 17,812 people reported smoking in the past year. From them, 17,031 (96%) provided data on quit attempts in the past 12 months.of whom 5,777 (34%) reported having made at least one serious attempt to do so.
Health concerns were the most frequently cited reasons, reported by more than half of the sample (52%) throughout the period, especially concerns about future health, reported by more than 1 in 3 (35.5%) compared to 1 in 5 (19%). ). ), which were motivated by current health concerns. The next most frequently cited reason was cost, reported by almost one in four (23%) followed by social factors, reported by about one in five (19%), and advice from a health professional (12%).
About 4% said they were motivated by health warnings on cigarette packs., while smoking restrictions resulted in 3.5% attempting to quit; Just over 3% named a simple decision to quit smoking. The remaining reasons attracted only about 1% each.
As of the beginning of 2020, every second attempt to quit smoking was motivated by health problems; 1 in 5 have current health problems (20%) and 1 in 3 have concerns about future health (34%). Every fifth was motivated by social factors (20%) and cost (20%), and every sixth was motivated by the advice of a medical professional (16.5%). Although the overall proportion of quit attempts motivated by health concerns changed little over the study period, the proportion of quit attempts motivated by cost increased significantly, from just over 19% in March 2018 to just under 25. 5% in May 2023.
But the proportion of quit attempts motivated by advice from a health professional fell significantly over the entire study period.increasing from just over 14% in March 2018 to 8.5% in May 2023.
The Covid-19 pandemic is likely to which began to affect England in March 2020, influenced the proportion of respondents who cited health problems, social factors and costs as reasons for trying to quit smoking, the researchers suggest. Researchers suggest the pandemic likely played a role in other ways as it led to loss of income and jobs for many people.
The researchers acknowledge several caveats to their findings, including the fact that all research data were obtained independently and are based on personal memoriesand may not apply to other countries with different attitudes toward smoking, tobacco control policies, and the provision of smoking cessation services.
But they conclude: “These results have implications for smoking cessation interventions and clinical practice. They indicate that cost is becoming an increasingly important factor in motivating people to try to quit smoking. Possible savings people can make by quitting smoking (even if they switch to alternative nicotine products) can be an effective way to motivate quit attempts,” he concludes.