Five-year outcomes for a smoking cessation clinic.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES

In Turkey, smoking cessation clinics have increased rapidly in recent years. We evaluated the demographic characteristics and the factors influencing the success of quitting among participants in a smoking cessation programme who completed a 5-year follow up.

METHODS

An observational study was conducted on all smokers who attended a smoking cessation clinic between April 2000 and June 2005.

RESULTS

Of the 350 participants recruited, 58% (n = 203) were male and 42% (n = 147) were female; 43.7% were university graduates. The average age of participants was 37.4 +/- 11.8 years; the average nicotine addiction level, according to the Fagerstrom nicotine dependence questionnaire, was 5.4 (+/-2.0). Seventy-eight (40.2%) of the 194 individuals who stopped smoking were women. At the end of 5 years, 34.6% of participants who attempted to quit were still successful. There was no difference between men and women in terms of their success in quitting after 5 years. Participants who received nicotine replacement therapy remained free of cigarettes 1.9 times (95% CI: 1.2-2.9) longer than those who did not.

CONCLUSION

Smoking cessation programmes should use a combination of behavioural and pharmacological therapies.