Targeting cessation: Understanding barriers and motivations to quitting among urban adult daily tobacco smokers

Abstract

Introduction Many people continue to smoke tobacco products despite known negative health consequences, including increased risk of chronic disease and death. Disparities exist in rates of smoking and chronic disease, underscoring the importance of understanding the barriers and motivations to smoking cessation among vulnerable populations, such as socioeconomically disadvantaged people of color. Methods This study uses data from a cross-sectional randomized household survey conducted in six low-income neighborhoods in New Haven, Connecticut, USA (N = 1205). The objectives were to examine barriers and motivations to quitting smoking among daily tobacco smokers (31.6% of respondents) and sociodemographic differences in endorsement of barriers and motivations. Results The two most common barriers to quitting were perceiving it to be too difficult and not wanting to quit. Financial costs, social support, and social influence were themes endorsed highly across both barriers and motivations to quitting. Sociodemographic differences were found, such as women and Black participants being more likely to be interested in a free quitline or quit website; women and Latinos being more likely to be afraid of gaining weight; and women, participants with less education, and older participants being more likely to be concerned about the cost of cessation products. Conclusions Understanding barriers and motivations to quitting among disadvantaged populations is crucial. Financial issues, social support, and social norms should be targeted in promoting cessation among disadvantaged, urban populations. Programs, interventions, and policies can also use research about specific barriers and motivations for sociodemographic sub-groups to be tailored, targeted, and more effective.

Understanding unsuccessful attempts to quit smoking: a social phenomenology approach

“…These results are consistent with results of another study that also indicated the expenses arising from purchase of cigarettes as motivational themes to quit smoking, as well as the harmful effects on health resulting from the addiction (23) . On the other hand, taking into account the income of smokers, the price of cigarettes must be substantial to affect the motivation to quit the habit (11) .…”

Barriers and motivators to reducing secondhand smoke exposure in African American families of head start children: a qualitative study

“…The smoker's social network has been cited as an important barrier/motivator in other studies [26,29,33], and several caregivers in this study also cited their social network as a barrier. Some caregivers indicated that smoking was common in their social circle, which made it challenging to reduce SHSe; this aligns with previous research that AfricanAmerican smokers perceive smoking as normative among other African-Americans [35].…”

“…For example, a study of barriers to HSBs for rural White and African-American adults found similar emphasis on social network and other smokers inside the home [29]. Social network and finances have also been previously cited as both barriers and motivators for cessation among urban smokers in New Haven, Connecticut [33], and concerns regarding the physical appearance of homes have been cited as a potential motivator for HSBs in disadvantaged caregivers in the United Kingdom [28]. Health has also been highlighted; in a study of barriers to cessation in mostly White adult smokers in Tennessee, the most commonly identified motivator of cessation was the improvement of the smoker's general health [34].…”

Development and evaluation of the See Me Smoke-Free multi-behavioral mHealth app for women smokers

“…The majority of women who quit smoking gain 8 to 10 lb on average [9][10][11][12][13]. Many women smokers report concerns about weight gain as a barrier to quitting [14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25], and women quitters who return to smoking identify weight gain as a reason for their relapse [26][27][28][29]. Women who are highly concerned about their weight are more likely to smoke as a means to control their weight [15,30,31].…”