How to Compare Quit Smoking Options
By Bob Sherman

What You Should Know About Smoking Cessation Programs

You should know that some programs advertise rather high quit rates. This can make you believe that a particular program is very effective, and if it's a commercial program, well worth the price. But, there are factors you should learn about advertised quit rates. These include:

  • Including or Excluding Dropouts For most scientific studies, all the initial participants are included in the final figures. Those who miss readings or drop out of the program are considered as having returned to smoking. Overall rates of smoking abstinence at the end of 6 months (including dropouts as smokers) of 20 to 30% are common for effective treatments. If dropouts are simply removed from the statistics, success rates may well approach 40 to 50%.

    So, remember that a success rate number can be calculated in several ways. Compare success rates calculated in the same way to make an informed decision.

  • Defining Success

    Scientific studies often ask participants if they abstained from smoking between recording sessions. Some participants will try to please the reachers by indicating abstinence when they actually relapsed and smoked. But, researchers always biochemically verify the participant's report. Typical biochemical methods include measuring expired breath samples for carbon monoxide (CO) levels and taking saliva samples to determine cotinine levels.

    If you are evaluating success rates for various cessation programs you should ensure that success is defined the same way for each program. Some programs have a financial interest in inflating their success rates.

  • Length of Followup

    Many programs last 4 to 8 weeks. While the initial urges to smoke are greatest in the first week and gradually taper off, many people relapse during moments of unusually stress or pressure. Over a period of 6 months, there is a steady decline in smoking abstinence. So, comparing quit rates at the end of a 4 week program with quit rates at the end of 6 months is not a fair comparison.

Armed with this information, you can better understand what "success" means in ads for various programs. Try to compare the same measure of success for each program to make a good comparison.

Take a look at other pages on our site:

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Read more at Depression And Smoking Cessation		Childhood Smoking and Prevention
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The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports:ABLE width="80%"
Read more at Smoking Is Harmful		Quit Smoking Effects - A Timeline of What to Expect When You Quit Smoking
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Did you know that on any given day, there are millions of smokers looking to quit smoking? But what are the quit smoking effects on your body, your health and well being? How soon can you expect
Read more at What To Expect When You Quit Smoking


 

How to Quit Smoking News

  • Fairfax may stomp out smoking at bus shelters
    Fairfax County officials are pushing to ban smoking at all public bus shelters, eight months after Virginia's restaurant-and-bar smoking ban went into effect. Business - Health - United States - Fairfax - Virginia

  • Call to control tobacco by law
    MONTEGO BAY, Jamaica Cardiovascular specialists from throughout the Caribbean gathered at the Ritz-Carlton, Montego Bay, from July 21 to 24 for the 25th Annual Caribbean Cardiology Conference.

  • Its too soon to tell if statewide ban has inspired smokers to quit
    Its still early to tell if the Wisconsin ban on smoking in bars, restaurants and workplaces that went into effect July 5 has pushed other people to quit, too, but some statewide indicators have signaled that certainly may be the case.

  • Public housing to go smoke-free
    SPRINGFIELD Oscar Babcock Jr. has been smoking for 60 years and hes not about to quit now. But the former truck driver doesnt have a problem with a no-smoking rule in the works for his public housing complex. Thats a good rule, Babcock, 75, said Thursday, while puffing away

  • For Sale: Your Health and the Integrity of the Medical Profession
    I have been writing for years in this blog, in my weekly City Paper columns and elsewhere about the corrupting influence of corporate money on science. The most alarming example, of course, is the influence of fossil fuel money on the climate change debate. And there is the case of Big Tobacco spending hundreds of millions of dollars over the years to muddy the debate on the dangers of ...

  • Inmates must butt out ... again
    More than 13,000 federal prisoners across the country have lost the right to smoke on penitentiary property. The federal court of appeal has overturned a court decision issued last October that gave inmates at more than 50 facilities the right to light up outside prison buildings.[...]

  • Smokers not wanted: University Medical Center decides it won't hire tobacco users
    EL PASO -- Starting Oct. 1, University Medical Center will no longer hire applicants who use tobacco products.

  • LSA Building to become smoke-free one year ahead of campus-wide ban
    Correction Appended: An earlier version of this article inaccurately identified the University Health Service as the University of Michigan Health System. As the campus prepares to go smoke-free in July 2011, some buildings are implementing the smoke-free policy earlier in an effort to create a healthier work environment. read more

  • Growing number of Henderson employers banning tobacco use anywhere on property
    Sitex Corp. management didn't rush into making their entire premises tobacco-free. "We had it on the drawing board for three or four years," President Wes Sights said.

  • At more and more companies, smokers need not apply
    If you're trying to find a job these days, it might help to get rid of your cigarette habit.

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