University of Wisconsin Center for Tobacco Research and Intervention, 1930 Monroe St Suite 200, Madison, WI, 53711, USA.
William S. Middleton Memorial Veterans Hospital, 2500 Overlook Terrace, Madison, WI, 53705, USA.
BMC Womens Health. 2020 Mar 30;20(1):63. doi: 10.1186/s12905-020-00918-6.
Tobacco use is the number one cause of death and disability of women in the United States, and our women Veteran population is disproportionately affected. Despite revisions to the Veterans Affairs' approach to smoking cessation, women continue to smoke at equal or higher rates than men, are prescribed cessation medications less frequently, and are less likely to quit. In this qualitative pilot study, individual interviews with women Veterans revealed their experiences with smoking cessation attempts.
The lead author conducted semi-structured interviews with 14 women Veterans who were either current or former smokers. Participants gave a narrative account of recent quit smoking attempts. Inductive thematic analysis explored the underlying themes.
Four main themes emerged as important: health and well-being, smoking as an addiction, optimism, and resilience. Health and well-being encompassed physical health, mental health, and financial stability. Women often felt that stability in these key areas made a successful attempt possible. Women with successful quit attempts were more likely to consider tobacco use as an addiction, as well as expressed optimism about their quit attempts. Women with successful quit attempts also demonstrated more resilience to lapses and relapses.
Women Veterans' quit smoking attempts demonstrate four main themes: baseline health and wellbeing, acknowledging smoking as an addiction, the participant's optimism towards quitting, and resilience. Patterns were observed within themes with respect to whether the woman was currently quit or had experienced a prolonged quit attempt in the past. Further research is needed to help women Veterans quit smoking.
在美国，吸烟是导致女性死亡和残疾的首要原因，而我们的女性退伍军人群体受到的影响尤为严重。尽管退伍军人事务部对戒烟的方法进行了修订，但女性的吸烟率仍与男性持平或更高，她们服用戒烟药物的频率更低，戒烟的可能性也更小。在这项定性试点研究中，对女性退伍军人的个体访谈揭示了她们戒烟尝试的经历。
首席作者对 14 名目前或曾经吸烟的女性退伍军人进行了半结构化访谈。参与者详细描述了最近的戒烟尝试。采用归纳主题分析方法探索了潜在的主题。
四个主要主题凸显出来：健康和福祉、吸烟成瘾、乐观和韧性。健康和福祉包括身体健康、心理健康和财务稳定。女性通常认为这些关键领域的稳定使成功戒烟尝试成为可能。成功戒烟的女性更有可能将吸烟视为一种成瘾，并且对戒烟尝试持乐观态度。成功戒烟的女性在面对复发时也表现出更强的韧性。
女性退伍军人的戒烟尝试体现了四个主要主题：基线健康和福祉、承认吸烟成瘾、参与者对戒烟的乐观态度以及韧性。对于当前戒烟或过去有过长期戒烟尝试的女性，在主题内观察到了模式。需要进一步研究以帮助女性退伍军人戒烟。
