Gradual reduction of cigarette consumption as a cessation strategy: prevalence, correlates, and relationship with quitting.

INTRODUCTION: Gradually reducing cigarette consumption is an approach used to quit smoking, but has not been widely studied at a population level. The purpose of this study was to assess the prevalence and demographic characteristics of U.S. adult smokers who tried to reduce to quit, and the relationship between reducing and successful quitting.

METHODS: Data came from 12,571 adults in the 2010-2011 Tobacco Use Supplement to the Current Population Survey who tried to quit smoking in the past year. Frequencies and percentages were used to assess prevalence of reducing to quit; bivariate and multiple logistic regression models were used to assess correlates of reducing to quit and successful past year cessation. Analyses were conducted in SAS-callable SUDAAN.

RESULTS: Among adults who tried to quit smoking in the past year, 43.0% (n = 5,444) tried reducing to quit. Compared to those who tried to quit without reducing consumption, those reducing to quit had a significantly higher prevalence of using counseling or medication (40.2% vs. 25.0%). In adjusted multivariable models, females (vs. males), Blacks (vs. Whites), current some day smokers (vs. every day smokers), and those who used counseling or medication had greater odds of trying to reduce to quit. Reducing to quit was negatively associated with successful past-year quitting (AOR = 0.59, 95% CI = 0.48, 0.72).

CONCLUSION: Reducing to quit is a common cessation strategy and, in these analyses, was associated with lower cessation success rates. More research on reducing to quit in a real-world setting is needed before widely recommending it as a cessation strategy.