Predictors of quit intentions among adult smokers in Mauritius: Findings from the ITC Mauritius Survey

Abstract

INTRODUCTION Mauritius has one of the highest rates of smoking in Africa. Smoking cessation is a priority for preventing tobacco-related morbidity and mortality. The purpose of this study is to identify the predictors of quit intentions among smokers in Mauritius in order to strengthen tobacco control policies and inform the development and delivery of services that may increase the likelihood of successful quitting. METHODS Data were drawn from Wave 1 (2009) of the International Tobacco Control (ITC) Mauritius Survey, a face-to-face cohort survey of a nationally representative sample of 598 adult smokers who were randomly selected from nine geographic districts in Mauritius using a multistage sampling procedure. RESULTS The vast majority of smokers (77.8%) had plans to quit smoking. Longer duration of past quit attempts (6 months or less), perceiving benefits of quitting, worrying about smoking damaging health in the future, and not enjoying smoking were significantly associated with quit intentions. However, socio-demographic characteristics, past quit attempts, overall attitude about smoking, and Heaviness of Smoking Index (HSI) were not associated with quit intentions. CONCLUSIONS The predictors of quit intentions among Mauritian smokers were generally similar to those found among smokers in other high-and middle-income countries. However, in contrast to findings in those other countries, nicotine dependence as measured by the HSI was not a significant predictor of quit intentions among Mauritian smokers. These findings highlight the need to consider the predictors of quit intentions when developing and delivering smoking cessation support services in Mauritius.

Intention to Quit among Smokers in Kazakhstan: Data from 2014 Global Adult Tobacco Survey

“…Most existing research has found that intention to quit smoking decreases with nicotine dependence [18,19,42]. However, a number of studies have also found that nicotine dependence is not associated with quitting intention among smokers [43,44]. In the current study, we discovered a significant negative association between nicotine dependence and intention to quit smoking, that was, the higher the dependence, the lower the intention to quit smoking.…”

Identifying factors associated with quit intentions among smokers from two nationally representative samples in Africa: Findings from the ITC Kenya and Zambia Surveys

“…Consistent with smokers from Mauritius (Kaai et al, 2016), China (Feng et al, 2010) and Western countries (i.e., Australia, Canada, UK, and the USA) (Hyland et al, 2006), smokers who reported having a past quit attempt, preferably lasting more than one month, were more likely to have a quit intention. Previous research has demonstrated that smokers typically require many quit attempts before they are successful (Chaiton et al, 2016) and it is important for those who relapse to continue to make cessation attempts.…”

“…Studies in HIC (United States of America, Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia, Korea, and Hong Kong), upper-middle-income countries (Mauritius and China) and two lower-middle income country (Bangladesh and India) have shown that factors that are associated with quit intentions include being male (Abdullah and Yam, 2005), single (Aryanpur et al, 2016), older (Kim et al, 2017), high income (Siahpush, 2006), higher education (Abdullah and Yam, 2005; Siahpush, 2006), having a past quit attempt (Driezen et al, 2016; Feng et al, 2010; Yu et al, 2004), having longer duration of quit attempts (Feng et al, 2010; Kaai et al, 2016), having lower nicotine dependence (Driezen et al, 2016; Feng et al, 2010; Kim et al, 2017), having fewer smoking friends (Hitchman et al, 2014), seeing a health care provider (Driezen et al, 2016; Gould et al, 2015), higher knowledge of the health risks of smoking (Choi et al, 2018; Sansone et al, 2012), worrying about future health (Driezen et al, 2016; Feng et al, 2010; Kaai et al, 2016), perceiving benefit of quitting (Driezen et al, 2016; Feng et al, 2010; Kaai et al, 2016; Wang et al, 2005; Yu et al, 2004), having higher levels of self-efficacy (Gould et al, 2015; Wang et al, 2005), not enjoying smoking (Abdullah and Yam, 2005; Driezen et al, 2016; Kaai et al, 2016), and having a negative opinion about smoking (Feng et al, 2010). A few studies found that demographic characteristics (Feng et al, 2010; Kaai et al, 2016) and nicotine dependence (Kaai et al, 2016) were not associated with quit intentions.…”

“…Nearly all of the existing studies on the factors that are associated with quit intentions have been conducted in HIC and upper-middle-income countries, and only two of these studies (Hyland et al, 2006; Siahpush, 2006) have conducted cross-country comparisons of these factors. Moreover, very few studies on predictors of quit intentions have been conducted in LMICs, notably in Africa (Agaku et al, 2012; Girma et al, 2010; Kaai et al, 2016; Shapiro et al, 2011), and only one (Kaai et al, 2016) used nationally representative data. A teen study by Agaku et al (2012) found that parents' use of tobacco, peers' use of smokeless tobacco, perception of harm from tobacco use, and perception that tobacco use made one comfortable in social events were associated with quit intentions.…”

Knowledge, opinions and compliance related to the 100% smoke-free law in hospitality venues in Kampala, Uganda: cross-sectional results from theKOMPLY Project

“…A study in Kenya, Zambia and Mauritius (which comprised a sample of 4251 smokers) reported that active smoking in bars was 83%, 70% and 45%, respectively, despite smoking bans in these venues. 24 …”