This article is more than 5 years old. Information may no longer be current.

Smokers more likely to quit when seeing specialists

People who want to quit smoking and seek advice from specialists are at a lower risk for relapse than people seeking support from non-specialists, according to study results.

“Longer-term smoking relapse appeared to be reduced in smokers who received support from specialist smoking cessation advisors, compared with those who received support from non-specialist advisors,” Fujian Song, PhD, a professor of research synthesis in the Norwich Medical School at the University of East Anglia in the United Kingdom, and colleagues wrote.

Song and colleagues conducted a secondary analysis of data from a randomized controlled trial of self-help material for smoking relapse prevention.

The researchers originally began recruiting carbon monoxide-validated short-term quitters in August 2011 from specialists focused on promoting smoking cessation. However, the researchers began expanding participant recruitment in May 2012 to non-specialists settings including pharmacies and general practice.

The researchers wanted to determine the prolonged abstinence between those who went to a specialist (n = 1,088) and those who went to non-specialists (n = 316). The results focused on the abstinence in smokers from 4 months to 12 months post quit date.

Short-term quitters who visited specialists had a higher proportion of continuous abstinence from 4 to 12 months than those who visited non-specialists (aOR = 1.48; 95% CI, 1.09-2).

“Findings from this study suggest that support from specialist smoking cessation advisors is associated with not only an increased short-term quit success, but also a reduced longer-term smoking relapse risk among short-term quitters,” the researchers wrote.

However, the researchers wrote more research is needed to determine why that is the case.

“Further research is needed to investigate reasons for the difference in longer term outcomes between specialist and non-specialist cessation support, and whether enhancing generalist skills in non-specialist advisors can reduce longer term relapse.” – by Ryan McDonald

Disclosure: Song reports no relevant financial disclosures. Please see the full study for a list of all other authors’ relevant financial disclosures.