ABSTRACT
Aims There is a growing interest in very low rate ( < 1cpd) and light (1-9cpd) smokers and their numbers appear to be increasing in some parts of the world. This paper examined changes in prevalence over the past 5 years, cessation patterns, and smoking and demographic characteristics of very low rate, light and moderate-to-heavy (10+cpd) smokers in England.
Design Cross-sectional and longitudinal data from aggregated monthly waves of a household survey: the Smoking Toolkit Study.
Setting England.
Participants A total of 23,245 smokers interviewed between November 2006 and May 2011 of whom 4,147 (18%) provided data at 6-month follow-up.
Measurements We compared the demographic and smoking characteristics between the three groups of smokers at baseline, and the rate of attempts to quit, use of aids to cessation, and success of quit attempts at follow-up.
Findings Very low rate smoking remained extremely rare (1.9% of smokers in 2006 to 2.8% in 2011) but light smoking became increasingly common (23.9% to 32.8%). Compared with moderate-to-heavy smokers, very low rate and light smokers were younger, more often female, from a higher socioeconomic background. They were more motivated to quit and enjoyed smoking less. During the 6-month follow-up period, light smokers, but not very low rate smokers, were more likely to attempt to quit than moderate-to-heavy smokers. When they tried to quit, very low rate and light smokers used aids to cessation less than moderate-to-heavy smokers but still used them to a substantial degree: 18%, 31% and 44% used nicotine replacement therapy over the counter in their most recent quit attempt for the three types of smoker respectively. Even very low rate smokers had a substantial failure rate: 65% failed in their most recent quit attempt within 6 months.
Conclusions Very low rate ( < 1cpd) and light (1-9cpd) smokers in England are at least as motivated to quit as heavier smokers. Although they use cessation medication less than heavier smokers and are more likely to succeed, they still use such medication and fail in quit attempts to a substantial degree.