Number of smokers who quit declines
Source: Agencies |
June 7, 2011, Tuesday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
A 2007 ban on smoking inside public places across the UK may have led to a spike in the number of smokers trying to quit, but the rise ebbed within months, a study said.
The findings, published in Addiction, suggest that while smoking bans may influence smokers to quit, they are likely to already be those who are motivated to give up tobacco and that further efforts may be needed to get more to quit.
"Other contextual factors and social norms continue to influence smoking behavior," said Lisa Szatkowski, a researcher at the UK Centre for Tobacco Control Studies at the University of Nottingham and lead author of the study.
"Factors such as the provision of outdoor facilities for smoking, or spending time with smoking friends, may mean smoke free legislation does not act as a continuing stimulus to quit over time," she told Reuters Health by e-mail.
The study looked at the change in numbers of prescriptions doctors wrote for medications to help smokers quit before and after the law was enacted on July 1, 2007, focusing on 350 medical practices.
The medications included nicotine replacement therapy, the antidepressant bupropion, and the newest antismoking aid varenicline, sold as Chantix in the United States, that came to the UK market in 2006.
In the nine months preceding the ban, prescriptions for all the medications rose by 6.4 percent, but nine months after the ban they dropped by 6.4 percent.
"It's frankly a little disappointing, but not surprising," said David Abrams, the executive director of the Steven A. Schroeder National Institute for Tobacco Research and Policy Studies.
Abrams, who was not involved in the study, said the impending ban likely motivated people who were already poised to quit.
The findings, published in Addiction, suggest that while smoking bans may influence smokers to quit, they are likely to already be those who are motivated to give up tobacco and that further efforts may be needed to get more to quit.
"Other contextual factors and social norms continue to influence smoking behavior," said Lisa Szatkowski, a researcher at the UK Centre for Tobacco Control Studies at the University of Nottingham and lead author of the study.
"Factors such as the provision of outdoor facilities for smoking, or spending time with smoking friends, may mean smoke free legislation does not act as a continuing stimulus to quit over time," she told Reuters Health by e-mail.
The study looked at the change in numbers of prescriptions doctors wrote for medications to help smokers quit before and after the law was enacted on July 1, 2007, focusing on 350 medical practices.
The medications included nicotine replacement therapy, the antidepressant bupropion, and the newest antismoking aid varenicline, sold as Chantix in the United States, that came to the UK market in 2006.
In the nine months preceding the ban, prescriptions for all the medications rose by 6.4 percent, but nine months after the ban they dropped by 6.4 percent.
"It's frankly a little disappointing, but not surprising," said David Abrams, the executive director of the Steven A. Schroeder National Institute for Tobacco Research and Policy Studies.
Abrams, who was not involved in the study, said the impending ban likely motivated people who were already poised to quit.
- About Us
- |
- Terms of Use
- |
-
RSS - |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Contact Us
- |
- Shanghai Call Center: 962288
- |
- Tip-off hotline: 52920043
- 沪ICP证：沪ICP备05050403号-1
- |
- 互联网新闻信息服务许可证：31120180004
- |
- 网络视听许可证：0909346
- |
- 广播电视节目制作许可证：沪字第354号
- |
- 增值电信业务经营许可证：沪B2-20120012
Copyright © 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.
