Predictors of success at six-month follow-up at a public smoking cessation clinic in South Korea.

INTRODUCTION

Our objective was to identify the factors related to returning to smoking by analyzing data obtained from a smoking cessation clinic.

METHODS

We analyzed data from 2,089 subjects (age 44.0 ± 12.9 years) who started a smoking cessation program between 16 July 2007 and 31 December 2008 in a community health center in the city of Ulsan. We analyzed demographic information and clinical variables using Kaplan-Meier survival analysis and calculated the hazard ratio for returning to smoking.

RESULTS

Mean abstinence time differed according to the following factors: sex, past attempts to quit, employment status, type of health insurance, CO levels, results from Fagerstrom test for nicotine dependence (FTND), number of cigarettes smoked daily, use of a nicotine replacement, and number of contacts in the program. Using multivariate analysis, we identified negative relationships between treatment intensity and hazard ratio for the following: visits ≤4 (Exp(B) = 3.752, P < 0.001, reference: 5 visits ≤), telephone contacts ≤5 (Exp(B) = 10.528, P < 0.001, reference: 6 calls ≤) and SMS ≤ 20 (Exp(B) = 3.821, P < 0.001 in 0-10 group; Exp(B) = 1.407, P = 0.003 for the 11-20 group; reference: 21 messages ≤).

DISCUSSION

Type of insurance, baseline CO, FTND level, and intensity of smoking cessation intervention positively affects outcomes in a smoking cessation clinic. A cost-effectiveness study on the intensity of interventions in smoking cessation clinics is needed.