The impact of smoking cessation attempts on stress levels

Abstract

Background Cigarette smoking is a major health risk, particularly in male South Koreans. Smoking cessation can benefit health; however, the process of quitting smoking is difficult to some smokers and shows its relationship to their stress level. The hypothesis of this study is that who has failed attempts to stop smoking induce more stress than habitual smoking. Methods To test this, the analysis on the association between smoking cessation attempts and stress levels in smokers was performed. The Korean Community Health Survey (2011–2016) data with the total of 488,417 participants’ data were used for this study. Survey data were analyzed using the chi-square test and logistic regression. As the dependent variable, self-reported level of stress was selected. Results Of the subject population, 78.3% (63.3% males, 81.4% females) felt stressed. Among participants who successfully stopped smoking, 73.0% (72.6% males, 78.1% females) reported feeling stressed. In contrast, of those who failed to stop smoking, 83.3% (83.6% males, 86.3% females) reported high stress levels. Among those who did not attempt smoking cessation, 81.1% (81.2% males, 80.3% females) responded that they experienced stress. Those who failed to stop smoking had higher odds of stress than those who did not attempt smoking cessation [odds ratio (OR) 1.11, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.09–1.14, p < 0.001]. Those who successfully stopped smoking had lower odds of stress than those who did not attempt smoking cessation (OR 0.87, 95% CI 0.86–0.89, p < 0.001). Conclusion The study found an association between unsuccessful smoking cessation and stress level. As the result, people who failed smoking cessation showed higher stress. These data should be considered in health policy recommendations for smokers. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (10.1186/s12889-019-6592-9) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Smoking and stress in the general population in Denmark

“…A systematic review, based on 23 studies, concluded that smoking cessation was associated with a decrease in stress levels and an increase in positive mood compared to continuing smoking 30 . Noteworthy, a study has shown that those who tried to quit smoking but failed had higher odds of stress than those who did not try to quit 31 In our study, we found a dose-response association between smoking intensity and perceived high stress level, which confirms previous findings. A large cross-sectional study showed that increasing levels of perceived stress were significantly associated with heavy smoking among daily smokers 18 , and a large cohort study found that higher work stress level was associated with greater smoking intensity among smokers 32 .…”

“…A systematic review, based on 23 studies, concluded that smoking cessation was associated with a decrease in stress levels and an increase in positive mood compared to continuing smoking 30 . Noteworthy, a study has shown that those who tried to quit smoking but failed had higher odds of stress than those who did not try to quit 31 .…”

Assessment of Nicotine Dependence, Cotinine Level and Carbon Monoxide Levels among Tobacco Users Employed in Private Automobile Companies in Chennai

“…Dependency on nicotine according to the FNTD scale revealed 77.3% of the smokers were highly dependent on nicotine, compared to 22.7% smokeless tobacco users, revealing dependence on nicotine was higher among smokers, the results are similar to various other studies conducted [33][34][35]. The attempt to quit rate was low among the smoker participants compared to the smokeless tobacco participants due to relapse in the habit because of psychological stress being the main reason, which coincides with the findings of another study [36][37][38], which could be seen as a lack of personal and professional help. However, craving for tobacco was cited as the main reason for relapsing back into the habit among smokeless tobacco users which was similar to a study by Kataria et al [39].…”

Variation in characteristics of people with mental disorders across smoking status in the Canadian general population

“…Additionally, the high levels of nicotine exposure and dependence, and the severity of mental disorders in this group may make their smoking cessation process less successful 29 . And, this disappointment could worsen their mental health status 30,31 . Nonetheless, the occurrence of disparities within the population with the same clinical condition (mental disorders) who are at increased risk for smoking behavior, and the additional disparities among immigrants and less educated people with mental disorders compared to those with no mental disorders, is intolerable.…”