Smokers who quit Abruptly kick the Habit for longer than those who stop Gradually

Smokers who quit abruptly are more likely to permanently kick the habit than those who wean themselves off cigarettes.

 

Some who quit gradually were also successful, but the latest study from England proves that if you want to kick the habit, pick a date and just do it.

Dr. Nicola Lindson-Hawley, a post-doctoral researcher at Oxford University, worked with 697 smokers and split them into 342 who quit gradually and 355 who were "abrupt quitters."

“Both groups had advice and support and access to nicotine patches and nicotine replacement therapy, like nicotine gum or mouth spray,” she said.

Those in the gradual group were asked to cut their smoking in half the first week. The second week they were again asked to halve that amount.

And on the final day, they were asked to quit.

“For every cigarette they missed, they were asked to use a product,” she said.

Researchers checked in with both groups at one month and at six months.

Of the 342 who were weaned gradually from cigarettes, 53 were still not smoking at six months.

This compares to 78 of those who had a quit date and put down their packs. They also had access to the patch.

Even allowing for the difference of 13 more people in the group which quit abruptly, those who went cold turkey had a 25% higher success rate.

“The other thing we are quite keen to point out is although they are more likely to quit abruptly, if there are people who really feel they can’t quit abruptly, then we still think it is important to support those people if they want to quit gradually,” Lindson-Hawley said.

The study is scheduled to be published Tuesday in the Annals of Internal Medicine.