Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2015 Feb 27;12(3):2574-87.
doi: 10.3390/ijerph120302574.

The Gold Standard Program for smoking cessation is effective for participants over 60 years of age

Mette Kehlet  1   2 , Torben V Schroeder  3   4   5 , Hanne Tønnesen  6   7
Affiliations

The Gold Standard Program for smoking cessation is effective for participants over 60 years of age

Mette Kehlet et al. Int J Environ Res Public Health. .

Abstract

Background: Tobacco smoking is more prevalent among the elderly than among the young, and the elderly also have the most frequent contact with the health care system. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of the Gold Standard Program, which is an intensive six-week smoking cessation program, on continuous self-reported abstinence rates after six months, on participants over the age of 60 years in a real life setting.

Methods: This was a retrospective cohort study from the national Danish smoking cessation database.

Results: The database registered 7369 participants over the age of 60 years (range 60-82) and 24,294 below 60 years (range 15-59). Continuous abstinence rate after six months was 37% for the elderly compared to 35% for the younger (p<0.05). The significant variables for continuous abstinence were: living with another adult (OR 1.10), prior professional recommendation for smoking cessation (OR 1.12), being compliant with program (OR 1.35) and being abstinent at end of course (OR 13.3).

Conclusions: Participants over the age of 60 years had significantly higher continuous abstinence rates after six months than the participants less than 60 years. It is never too late for health professionals to recommend and educate patients about smoking cessation programs even if they are over 60 years of age.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Flow-chart for the study population according to definition of age and responders vs. non-responders. * Validated data: doublets and non-existing personal identification number are excluded.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Lim S.S., Vos T., Flaxman A.D., Danaei G., Shibuya K., Adair-Rohani H., Amann M., Anderson H.R., Andrews K.G., Aryee M., et al. A comparative risk assessment of burden of disease and injury attributable to 67 risk factors and risk factor clusters in 21 regions, 1990–2010: A systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2010. Lancet. 2012;380:2224–2260. doi: 10.1016/S0140-6736(12)61766-8. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. WHO Global Report. [(accessed on 15 February 2015)]. Available online: http://whqlibdoc.who.int/publications/2012/9789241564434_eng.pdf?ua=1.
    1. Danish Health and Medicines Authority. [(accessed on 15 February 2015)]. Available online: http://sundhedsstyrelsen.dk/en/health/tobacco.
    1. Petty T.L. The history of COPD. Int. J. Chron. Obstruct. Pulmon. Dis. 2006;1:3–14. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Postma D.S., Bush A., van den Berge M. Risk factors and early origins of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Lancet. 2014;2014 doi: 10.1016/S0140-6736(14)60446-3. - DOI - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources