Individual Factors In Quitting

Overview

To research the differences between women who quit and compare them to differences between men who quit, the researchers leveraged the results of a study examining effectiveness of bupropion SR (a medication) combined with different levels of counseling. To read more on the original study, “Effectiveness of Bupropion”, click here.

Design

In the original study, researchers recruited 875 women and 649 men; all participants were members of the Puget Sound-based Group Health Cooperative, smoked at least 10 cigarettes a day, wanted to quit smoking, and were able to take bupropion SR to help them quit. Then participants were divided into one of four possible treatment intensities that varied on both dose of bupropion SR (150 mg or 300 mg) and on the type of counseling (Free & Clear phone program or a tailored mail program).

To determine if men and women have different characteristics that impact their chance of success at quitting smoking, the researchers divided the original study subjects into female subgroups and male subgroups. They then compared a range of personal factors like body mass index, stress level, and depression across the groups to see if any of those factors made a man or woman more or less likely to quit.

Findings

The researchers found a large range of treatment effectiveness (percentage of people quit) in both the all-female subgroups and the all-male subgroups.

• For women classified into six subgroups, the percentage of women quit ranged from 9.8% to 42.9%.
• For men classified into six subgroups, the percentage of men quit ranged from 17.3% to 50.0%.

The tables below show the most important characteristics found within the high quitting female and male groups and the low quitting female and male groups.

 

Factors Associated with High Rates of Quitting

Table 1.0 Factors associated with a woman being most likely to quit smoking

Highly educated (Average for this group was 16.7 years of schooling) Lower levels of perceived stress Took bupropion SR every day that it is prescribed (not skipping days) Had tried a quit for at least 24 hours in the past year

 

Table 2.0 Factors associated with a man being most likely to quit smoking

Had quit previously in his life for at least 1 month Never reported having depression Lower levels of perceived stress Lowest scores on the nicotine dependency test

 

Factors Associated with Low Rates of Quitting

Table 3.0 Factors associated with a woman being least likely to quit smoking

High body mass index (Average BMI for subgroup was 34.7) Not having tried a quit for at least 24 hours in the past year Not having tried nicotine replacement therapy (gum, patches) in the past

 

Table 4.0 Factors associated with a man being least likely to quit smoking

Had some depression and perceived stress Didn’t take bupropion for as long as required because thought it was not working Had tried quitting but lasted less than 1 month in the past

 

 

Conclusion

The researchers found a substantial amount of difference in quitting success between men and women and then between men (when compared to other men) and between women (when compared to other women). Past attempts at quitting smoking, adherence to bupropion medication, body mass index, stress, depression, and education are all factors that have an impact on a person’s chances of quitting smoking successfully. However, some factors make more of a difference for a woman’s chance of success while other factors matter more to men.

Future behavioral programs should be tailored to account for these individual-level circumstances.

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