ArticleInternational journal of environmental research and public health2015
Why Don't Smokers Want Help to Quit? A Qualitative Study of Smokers' Attitudes towards Assisted vs. Unassisted Quitting.
Article in International journal of environmental research and public health, 2015. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 41 papers, 4 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
41 citing papers in PubMed, 4 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Guideline
- Recommendations on interventions for tobacco smoking cessation in adults in Canada.CMAJ : Canadian Medical Association journal = journal de l'Association medicale canadienne · 2025Guideline
- Paternal preconception modifiable risk factors for adverse pregnancy and offspring outcomes: a review of contemporary evidence from observational studies.BMC public health · 2023Pooled it
- Interventions to increase adherence to medications for tobacco dependence.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2019Pooled it
- Exploring the predictors and barriers to accepting smoking cessation support within a targeted lung health check setting.BMJ open respiratory research · 2025Trial
- Can We Predict Who Will Experience Adverse Events While Using Smoking Cessation Pharmacotherapy? A Secondary Analysis of the EAGLES Clinical Trial.Nicotine & tobacco research : official journal of the Society for Research on Nicotine and Tobacco · 2025Trial
- Withdrawal Symptom, Treatment Mechanism, and/or Side Effect? Developing an Explicit Measurement Model for Smoking Cessation Research.Nicotine & tobacco research : official journal of the Society for Research on Nicotine and Tobacco · 2020Trial
- A randomised controlled trial examining the efficacy of smoking-related response inhibition training in smokers: a study protocol.BMC public health · 2018Trial
- Treatment barriers among younger and older socioeconomically disadvantaged smokers.The American journal of managed care · 2017Trial
- Perceived vs. actual cigarette and waterpipe dependence in Lebanon: a cross-sectional study of social desirability across demographic subgroups.Archives of public health = Archives belges de sante publique · 2026Article
- Decision-Making on Nicotine Replacement Therapy Use and Product Selection: An Explorative Qualitative Study Among Chinese Americans Who Smoke.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2026Article
- Identifying roles in smoking cessation care for different types of healthcare providers: a qualitative study with people who smoke.Frontiers in health services · 2025Article
- Challenges of smoking cessation in users of non-invasive stimulation technologies in Iran: a parallel convergent mixed-methods study.BMJ open · 2024Article
- Patterns and Challenges in Help-Seeking for Addiction among Men: A Systematic Review.Journal of clinical medicine · 2024Review
- Understanding cancer patients' desire to quit tobacco without assistance: A mixed-methods study.Journal of health psychology · 2024Article
- The Natural Trajectory of Smoking Cessation Among Cancer Patients Who Want to Quit "On Their Own": A Mixed-Methods, Longitudinal Study.Nicotine & tobacco research : official journal of the Society for Research on Nicotine and Tobacco · 2024Article
- Intensive smoking cessation intervention in a nature-based setting: a feasibility study of the Danish gold standard program.Frontiers in public health · 2024Observational
- Medication Adherence in Tobacco Cessation Clinical Trials.Addiction neuroscience · 2023Article
- 'Willpower' is not enough: time for a new approach to public health policy to prevent obesity.BMC medicine · 2023Article
- A qualitative analysis of nicotine replacement therapy uptake, consistent use, and persistence among primary care patients who smoke.Drug and alcohol dependence reports · 2022Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
5 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
The development of prescription medication for smoking cessation and the introduction of evidence-based guidelines for health professionals has increasingly medicalised smoking cessation. There are debates about whether medicalisation is a positive development, or whether it has devalued unassisted quitting. In this debate the views of smokers have been neglected. This study explored the attitudes of smokers towards a range of quitting methods, and their considerations when judging their value. We conducted semi-structured interviews with 29 smokers and analysed data using thematic analysis. The results show that the perceived nature of an individual smoker's addiction was central to judgments about the value of pharmacological cessation aids, as was personal experience with a method, and how well it was judged to align with an individual's situation and personality. Unassisted quitting was often described as the best method. Negative views of pharmacological cessation aids were frequently expressed, particularly concerns about side effects from prescription medications. Smokers' views about the value of different methods were not independent: attitudes about cessation aids were shaped by positive attitudes towards unassisted quitting. Examining smokers' attitudes towards either assisted or unassisted quitting in isolation provides incomplete information on quitting preferences.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.