Approximately half of US adult smokers tried to quit in 2022, but fewer than 40% used counseling or medication, and half received assistance or advice about quitting from clinicians, based on a review in the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.
Previous research has shown that clinician intervention and evidence-based treatment increase the odds that smokers can quit successfully, but the extent to which these interventions are applied in practice has not been well studied, the researchers noted.
Although great progress has been made in reducing cigarette smoking in the United States, disparities remain, both in use and in cessation, with an estimated 28.8 million adults reporting cigarette smoking in 2022, said lead author Brenna VanFrank, MD, MSPH, in an interview.
“Cigarette smoking remains the leading preventable cause of death and disease in the United States,” said VanFrank, Senior Medical Officer, Office on Smoking and Health, National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
In a new review, the researchers examined data from the 2022 National Health Interview Survey. The study population included 27,651 adults aged 18 years and older. Current smoking was defined as currently smoking each day or some days and ever having smoked at least 100 cigarettes. The survey assessed the individuals’ interest in quitting, past-year quit attempts, recent quitting success, receipt of healthcare professional advice about quitting, use of counseling to help quit, and use of medication to help quit.
In 2022, approximately two thirds (67.7%) of the 28.8 million adult smokers in the United States wanted to quit, half (53.3%) tried to quit, but only 8.8% were successful. Of those who reported trying to quit, 38.3% used counseling or medication. Of these, 36.3% used medication, 7.3% used counseling, and 5.3% used both.
Indicators of smoking cessation varied by health characteristics and sociodemographic factors, with the highest prevalence of attempts to quit smoking in the past year among adults aged 18-24 years and the lowest among those aged 45-64 years (74.4% vs 47.5%).
Rates of successful quitting were highest among individuals with higher levels of education and income, and use of smoking cessation treatment was highest among White adults (42.7%), followed by non-Hispanic adults of another race, Black adults, and Hispanic adults (33.6%, 32.6%, and 28.8%, respectively).
Smokers of menthol cigarettes had similarly low success rates for quitting (
Source : Medscape