Effectiveness of a Large, Nation-Wide Smoking Abstinence Campaign in the Netherlands: A Longitudinal Study

Sigrid A. Troelstra, Janneke Harting and Anton E. Kunst
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Sigrid A. Troelstra: Department of Public Health, Amsterdam UMC, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam Public Health Research Institute, Meibergdreef 9, 1105 AZ Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Janneke Harting: Department of Public Health, Amsterdam UMC, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam Public Health Research Institute, Meibergdreef 9, 1105 AZ Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Anton E. Kunst: Department of Public Health, Amsterdam UMC, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam Public Health Research Institute, Meibergdreef 9, 1105 AZ Amsterdam, The Netherlands

IJERPH, 2019, vol. 16, issue 3, 1-11

Abstract: From 2014, the 28-day smoking abstinence campaign ‘Stoptober’ is held in the Netherlands. Each year, more than 50,000 people participate in what has become a nation-wide collective cessation attempt. This study aims to determine the short-term effects of ‘Stoptober’ on participants’ smoking behavior and behavioral determinants. Stoptober participants completed online surveys before the start of the campaign ( n = 6856) and three months later ( n = 1127). Descriptive statistics and t-tests were performed to determine changes in smoking and behavioral determinants. Logistic regression analyses were used to identify differences between subgroups. After three months, 71.8% of respondents had quit smoking and consumption was reduced among sustained smokers. Cessation rates were similar for subgroups by age, sex and educational level. Cessation was positively associated with confidence and self-efficacy at baseline and negatively associated with past year quit attempts and addiction level at baseline. For quitters, we found favorable changes in attitude towards cessation related stress, social norms, social pressure to smoke, self-efficacy to quit, smoking habit strength and smoker identity. For sustained smokers, we found favorable changes in attitude towards cessation related stress, self-efficacy and smoking habit strength. These results suggest that an abstinence campaign with a wide reach in a national population may be effective in decreasing smoking prevalence and cigarette consumption among a broad range of participants.

Keywords: smoking cessation; intervention; temporary abstinence campaigns; Stoptober; behavioral determinants (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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