Effectiveness of stop-smoking medications: findings from the International Tobacco Control (ITC) Four Country Survey.

Aim: To evaluate the population effectiveness of stop-smoking medications while accounting for potential recall bias by controlling for quit attempt recency.

Design: Prospective cohort survey.

Setting: United Kingdom, Canada, Australia and the United States.

The effectiveness of tobacco marketing regulations on reducing smokers' exposure to advertising and promotion: findings from the International Tobacco Control (ITC) Four Country Survey.

Exposure to tobacco product marketing promotes the initiation, continuation, and reuptake of cigarette smoking and as a result the World Health Organization Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (WHO FCTC) has called upon member Parties to enact comprehensive bans on tobacco advertising and promotion. This study examines the immediate and long term effectiveness of advertising restrictions enacted in different countries on exposure to different forms of product marketing, and examines differences in exposure across different socioeconomic status (SES) groups. Nationally representative data from the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, and the United States, collected from adult smokers between 2002 and 2008 using the International Tobacco Control Four Country Survey (ITC-4), were used in this study (N = 21,615).

Provision of relapse prevention interventions in UK NHS Stop Smoking Services: a survey.

Background: UK NHS Stop Smoking Services provide cost effective smoking cessation interventions but, as yet, there has been no assessment of their provision of relapse prevention interventions.

Methods: Electronic questionnaire survey of 185 UK Stop Smoking Services Managers.

Results: Ninety six Stop Smoking Service managers returned completed questionnaires (52% response rate).

Relapse prevention in UK Stop Smoking Services: a qualitative study of health professionals' views and beliefs.

Background: NHS Stop Smoking Services in the UK provide cost effective smoking cessation interventions, but approximately 75% of smokers who are abstinent at 4 weeks relapse to smoking by 12 months. This study aimed to explore health professionals' understanding of relapse prevention interventions (RPIs), the feasibility of offering such support and whether and how these are currently used in UK NHS Stop Smoking Services.

Methods: Sixteen health professionals working in UK NHS Stop Smoking Services, selected from those attending a national conference were interviewed and Framework Analysis was used to identify recurrent key themes and concepts in their perceptions and experiences of providing relapse prevention interventions (RPIs).

Susceptibility to nicotine dependence: the Development and Assessment of Nicotine Dependence in Youth 2 study.

Objectives: The purpose of this work was to identify characteristics that predict progression from the first inhalation of a cigarette to dependence. We studied a cohort of 1246 public school 6th-graders in 6 Massachusetts communities (mean age at baseline: 12.2 years).

Symptoms of tobacco dependence after brief intermittent use: the Development and Assessment of Nicotine Dependence in Youth-2 study.

Objective: To extend the findings of the first Development and Assessment of Nicotine Dependence in Youth study by using diagnostic criteria for tobacco dependence and a biochemical measure of nicotine intake. The first study found that symptoms of dependence commonly appeared soon after the onset of intermittent smoking.

Design: A 4-year prospective study.

Trait anxiety and nicotine dependence in adolescents: a report from the DANDY study.

The Revised Children's Manifest Anxiety Scale (RCMAS) and the Hooked on Nicotine Checklist (HONC) were used to measure trait anxiety and tobacco dependence in a population of 581 adolescents. Smokers demonstrated higher mean RCMAS scores (9.3, S.

Recollections and repercussions of the first inhaled cigarette.

Context: It has not been determined if a youth's reaction to the first smoking experience is predictive of future nicotine dependence, or whether the impact of the first cigarette can be altered by manipulating levels of tar, nicotine and menthol.

Objective: To determine if the recalled response to the first cigarette is predictive of the development of symptoms of nicotine dependence and whether it is influenced by the type of cigarette smoked.

Design And Setting: A retrospective/prospective longitudinal study of the natural history of nicotine dependence employing individual interviews conducted three times annually in two urban school systems over 3 years.

Measuring the loss of autonomy over nicotine use in adolescents: the DANDY (Development and Assessment of Nicotine Dependence in Youths) study.

Context: There is no validated, theory-based tool for assessing the onset of nicotine dependence. However, the use of all addictive substances can result in a loss of autonomy. We propose that nicotine dependence begins when autonomy is lost, ie, when the sequelae of tobacco use, either physical or psychological, present a barrier to quitting.