Most of the declines in smoking prevalence have been achieved through smoking prevention, rather than increases in smoking cessation. In fact, Canadians who try to quit are no more successful at staying abstinent than ten years ago. Our work has been examining trends in quitting, including novel approaches for promoting cessation.
Stop-smoking medications and subsidization policies
Clinical trials have demonstrated the efficacy of stop-smoking medications. However, evidence of their effectiveness in “real-world” situations is less clear. We recently examined patterns of use of stop-smoking medications in Canada and the impact of provincial subsidies for providing free or low cost nicotine replacement therapy (NRT) and prescription medications.
Smartphone apps for quitting smoking
Youth and young adults are less likely to use “formal” help for smoking cessation, including counselling and medications. In an effort to increase quit rats among this critical demographic, a number of smoking cessaiton apps have been developed. We developed an evidence-based app -Crush the Crave- which is currently being tested against a self-help control condition in a randomized clinical trial. Findings will be available in mid 2015.
Trends in smoking cessation
We are monitoring quitting patterns as part of the International Tobacco Control Policy Evaluation Project.
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