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. 2018;16(Suppl 2):A6.
doi: 10.18332/tid/98912.

Quitting activity and use of cessation assistance reported by smokers in eight European countries: Findings from the EUREST-PLUS ITC Europe Surveys

Karin Hummel  1 , Gera E Nagelhout  1   2   3 , Geoffrey T Fong  4   5 , Constantine I Vardavas  6   7 , Sophia Papadakis  6   8 , Aleksandra Herbeć  9   10   11 , Ute Mons  12 , Bas van den Putte  13   14 , Ron Borland  15 , Esteve Fernández  16   17 , Hein de Vries  1 , Ann McNeill  18   10 , Shannon Gravely  4 , Krzysztof Przewoźniak  9   19 , Piroska Kovacs  20 , Antigona C Trofor  21   22 , Marc C Willemsen  1   14
Affiliations

Quitting activity and use of cessation assistance reported by smokers in eight European countries: Findings from the EUREST-PLUS ITC Europe Surveys

Karin Hummel et al. Tob Induc Dis. 2018.

Abstract

Introduction: There is clear evidence that the use of cessation aids significantly increases the likelihood of successful smoking cessation. The aim of this study was to examine quitting activity and use of cessation aids among smokers from various European countries. Subgroup differences were also examined for sex, income, education, and age in each country.

Methods: Cross-sectional data were collected in 2016 from 10,683 smokers in eight European countries participating in the ITC Project: England (n=3,536), Germany (n=1,003), Greece (n=1,000), Hungary (n=1,000), the Netherlands (n=1,136), Poland (n=1,006), Romania (n=1,001), and Spain (n=1,001). We measured quitting activity, including quit attempts in the previous 12 months and intention to quit, use of cessation aids (i.e., medication, quitlines, internet, local services, and e-cigarettes), and whether respondents had received advice about quitting and e-cigarettes from health professionals.

Results: Quit attempts were most common in England (46.3%) and least common in Hungary (10.4%). Quit intention was highest in England and lowest in Greece. Use of e-cigarettes to quit was highest in England (51.6%) and lowest in Spain (5.0%). Use of cessation aids was generally low across all countries; in particular this was true for quitlines, internet-based support, and local services. Receiving health professional advice to quit was highest in Romania (56.5%), and lowest in Poland (20.8%); few smokers received advice about e-cigarettes from health professionals. No clear differences were found for sex and income groups. Across countries, smokers with lower education reported less quitting activity.

Conclusions: Quitting activity and use of cessation methods were low in most countries. Greater quit attempts and use of cessation aids were found in England, where large investments in tobacco control and smoking cessation have been made. Health professionals are important for motivating smokers to quit and promoting the effectiveness of various methods, but overall, few smokers get advice to quit.

Keywords: smoking cessation; socioeconomic differences; survey.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that they have no competing interests, financial or otherwise, related to the current work. C. I. Vardavas reports that he is the Strategic Development Editor of TID and that there are no conflicts of interest with this current work. A. Herbeć reports grants from Pfizer, outside the submitted work. K. Przewoźniak reports grants and personal fees from Polska Liga Walki z Rakiem (Polish League Against Cancer), outside the submitted work. The rest of the authors have also completed and submitted an ICMJE form for disclosure of potential conflicts of interest.

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