Who are the female smokers who seek treatment for smoking cessation: A Brazilian cohort study

ABSTRACT

Aim: To describe the sociodemographic, clinical, and behavioral characteristics of women who seek treatment for smoking cessation and to investigate the relationship between these characteristics and the nicotine dependence level and treatment duration. Methods: Data were collected using questionnaires that were administered to 655 women. Regression of generalized linear model and regression logistic ordinal were used to assess the correlation between the variables being studied. Findings: The average age of women in the study was 49 years. Among them were those who were employed (54.9%), who had high levels of nicotine dependence (78.5%), and whose primary reason for seeking treatment was related to health concerns (62%). The treatment duration was positively correlated with depression (p = 0.04), hypertension (p < 0.01), and with seeking treatment due to health concerns (p = 0.02). Conclusions: Our study indicates that adherence in women can be increased by providing treatment that is accessible to the lower class. It also indicates the need to reconceptualize the way therapeutic group sessions are conducted. We hypothesize that the reason for the high dropout rate after 6 months of treatment could be related to the way that group sessions operate.

KEYWORDS:

• Public health
• smoking cessation
• women’s health

Disclosure of potential conflict of interest

Caroline Figueira Pereira and Divane de Vargas declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Funding

Funding for this study was provided by National Council for Scientific and Technological Development (CNPQ 134656/2013-0). CNPQ had no role in the study design, collection, analysis, or interpretation of the data, writing the manuscript, or the decision to submit the paper for publication.

Additional information

Funding

Funding for this study was provided by National Council for Scientific and Technological Development (CNPQ 134656/2013-0). CNPQ had no role in the study design, collection, analysis, or interpretation of the data, writing the manuscript, or the decision to submit the paper for publication.

Notes on contributors

Caroline Figueira Pereira

Caroline Figueira Pereira and Divane de Vargas contributed during all phases of manuscript development and have approved the final manuscript.