84 percent of ex-smokers who consulted with their doctor or
another healthcare professional during their final successful quit
attempt believe that giving up would have been more difficult if they
had tried to quit alone - according to the results of a new European
survey announced today.(1) The survey, which investigated the
attitudes of nearly 1,000 ex-smokers on smoking and smoking cessation,
revealed that 74 percent of those who consulted a healthcare
professional would be likely to recommend this approach to others
wanting to quit.
In addition, the survey revealed that those who consulted with
their doctor or another healthcare professional during their
successful quit attempt are significantly more likely to think they
will not go back to regular smoking, compared to those who quit alone.
Only 13% of all ex-smokers contacted in the survey consulted with
a healthcare professional to help influence their quit attempt. With
healthcare professionals being the source of professional support and
being able to advise on new ways for the individual to quit, this
suggests that smokers aren´t always seeking the support which is
available to them when trying to give up.
"Smoking is an extremely powerful addiction," explains Onno van
Schayck, Professor General Practice, University of Maastricht,
Netherlands. "What this survey highlights is how instrumental doctors
can be in helping smokers quit. Because nicotine is so addictive,
smokers really do face a difficult challenge when they try to give up
on their own. These results reinforce that smokers who are serious
about giving up should make a point of speaking to their doctor".
The survey found that those who were heavy smokers or who had
previously attempted to quit were more likely to find quitting
difficult than those who smoked less and those who had not tried to
quit previously. In addition, those smokers who found it more
difficult to quit were more likely to seek their doctor´s advice than
to quit without support. "Based on my experience once smokers have
realised the difficulty of quitting and have experienced the
difficulties of quitting without support, they are more likely to seek
help from a healthcare professional to increase chances of success"
comments Professor van Schayck.
The survey also revealed ex-smokers´ motivations to quit. Leading
cited reasons to quit included concerns about potential health
problems (45 percent), the cost of buying cigarettes (28 percent), the
negative impact on family health (22 percent) and diagnosed health
problems (22 percent).
Interestingly, the implementation of a national smoking ban was
also a motivation to quit, with approximately a quarter of respondents
(23%) citing it as having an impact. This was particularly true in
Italy, one of the countries with the longest-standing nationwide
smoking ban in place - 40 percent of Italian respondents agreed the
ban had been influential.
The vast majority of ex-smokers say that since quitting smoking,
they feel much better about themselves in a number of ways.
Seventy-nine percent agreed that their sense of taste and smell had
noticeably improved once they had quit. Although many of the
ex-smokers surveyed recognised the harmful effects of cigarette
smoking even before they quit, 86 percent agreed that quitting smoking
has had a noticeable impact on their general wellbeing.
About the Quitters´ Survey
The Quitters´ Survey was conducted by Double Helix Development and
sponsored by Pfizer. The survey investigated ex-smokers´ attitudes to
smoking and smoking cessation and nearly 1,000 ex-smokers, who have
been abstinent for at least one year from France, Germany, Italy,
Spain and the UK, participated in the survey.
References
1. Pfizer, Data on File, UK, November 2007.
