Background: The purpose of this study is to assess social support and demographic factors that influence the success of smoking cessation aided with sublingual nicotine tablets in a Han Chinese population.
Methods: We randomly allocated 211 Beijing residents who smoked >or= 10 cigarettes a day for at least 1 year into a double-blind, placebo-controlled 3-month randomized smoking cessation trial using sublingual nicotine replacement therapy (NRT). Self-reports of sustained smoking cessation were verified during the study by expired carbon monoxide concentrations and urine-cotinine concentrations. Logistic regression analysis used an intent to treat sample for sociodemographic associations with abstinence and reduction in smoking.
Results: The abstinence rates at the end of treatment for NRT vs. placebo were 52 % vs .19%, and smoking reduction (reduced to at least 50% of baseline) rates for NRT vs. placebo were 43% vs .15% for a total response rate with NRT of 95% for either stopping completely or reducing smoking by 50%. The only factor strongly associated with successful smoking cessation after 3 months of sublingual NRT was being married (adjusted odds ratio 2.18; 95%confidence interval 1.10-4.33). Smoking association, on the other hand, was associated with being married and with employment as a white collar worker (2.24; 1.03 to 4.86).
Conclusions: These findings suggest the need for a more in-depth examination of the impact of being married and employment as a white collar worker (rather than manual laborer) in order to develop better targeted interventions for improving smoking cessation interventions.