Rate of smoking cessation and factors associated with successful quit smoking in Seremban District of Malaysia

Abstract

Introduction: Smoking is a major public health significant and a leading preventable cause of premature mortality. Assisting smoking cessation is important due to potential positive health impacts. The establishment of "Quit Smoking Clinics" reflect a great commitment by the health authority to reduce the national burden of smoking prevalence. Aim: The objective is to measure the prevalence of smoking cessation and factors associate with successful quit smoking in all public healthcare "Quit Smoking Clinic" in Seremban district, Malaysia. Method: This retrospective cross-sectional study uses registry data and clinical notes from public healthcare clinics in Seremban district from January 2019 to June 2019. The outcome of interest was the proportion of smokers that enrolled in "Quit Smoking Clinic" who remained abstinent at six months of follow-up. Multivariate analysis was done to determine the predictors for successful smoking cessation in the study. Result: Out of the 285 smokers included in this study, 86 smokers (30.2%) quit smoking in this programme. Significant predictors of quitting smoking were use of nicotine replacement therapy (NRT), frequency of attending the appointments, presence of diabetes comorbidity, and Malay ethnicity. The Hosmer test showed a good model fit (p-value 0.998) and area under the curve (AUC) was 0.96% (95% CI 0.94-0.98) in the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve. Conclusion:The "Quit Smoking Clinic" programme showed good outcome and the service should be expanded to the private sector. Predictors for smoking cessation identified can be used by policy makers to design more targeted approaches, ensuring more smokers quit smoking.

Assessment of the real-world impact of the Thai smoking cessation programme on clinical outcomes: protocol for a multicentre prospective observational study

“…For example, in Turkey studies (Saylan et al, 2021) have reported smoking cessation interventions with quit rates between 22% and 51%. In Malaysia (Zamzuri et al, 2021), they developed a structured programme using a private public partnership (mQuit) with success rates of approximately 30%. Through this study, we believe that our results will provide policy makers especially in low-middle income countries on the effectiveness of such programmes and how these can be adapted to suit their context.…”

Quit Smoking Clinic: Factors Associated with Successful Quit Smoking in Besut District, Terengganu State of Malaysia

“…Over recent years, successful quit smoking rates were reported as ranging from 30.2% to 45.5% [7]- [11]. A study in South Korea reported almost 40.0% of smokers accomplished smoking cessation following a 12-week quit smoking intervention [8].…”

“…In Karachi, Pakistan, a study among 330 former adult smokers, 50.3% quit successfully on their first attempt [12]. A recent study by Ahmad Zamzuri, Kamarudin [7] among smokers attending "Quit Smoking Clinic" in Seremban district, Malaysia discovered 30.2% had effectively stop smoking after six month of clinic follow-up. Among the ever smokers in Malaysia, at least one third of them have ceased smoking behaviour [11].…”

“…However, some suggest females had higher chance to succeed in quitting because they were more likely to have concerns regarding health [18] and due to stereotypical societal values and cultural disapproval of smoking among females [19]. A study in Seremban district, Malaysia demonstrated Malay smokers had a higher likelihood of quitting smoking [7]. Another study among Malaysian illustrated smokers of Malay ethnicity was significantly successful in quitting behaviour [11].…”

“…Smokers who live in urban areas have a higher chance in smoking cessation because of better access to medical facilities and more media resources for tobacco control educational campaigns, as well as higher educational attainment [20], [21]. Smokers with chronic medical illness such as hypertension, diabetes, tuberculosis, ischemic heart disease and asthma were associated with successful quit smoking and they often used more assertive choice of tobacco-cessation treatment compared to those without comorbidities [7], [8], [10], [22]- [24]. Other associated factor influencing successful quit smoking was voluntary participation in the smoking cessation service.…”