Journals of Gerontology Series B: Psychological Sciences and Social Sciences, Vol 52, Issue 4 S212-S221, Copyright © 1997 by The Gerontological Society of America
Age and stage of readiness for smoking cessation
MA Clark, W Rakowski, FJ Kviz and JW Hogan
Department of Community Health, Brown University, USA. Melissa_Clark.brown.edu
Using the 1992 National Health Interview Survey Cancer Control Supplement,
relationships were analyzed between stage of readiness for smoking
cessation and background characteristics, smoking behaviors, and
smoking-related attitudes among smokers aged 18-29, 30-49, and > or = 50
years. For each age group, an ordinal logistic regression model was
computed to identify correlates of readiness to quit. The youngest smokers
had attitudes most favorable to being ready to try to quit smoking. For
smokers aged 30-49, the influence of a medical provider and perceived
health effects of smoking were important correlates of readiness. Among
smokers 50 and older, those with realistic health consequences of smoking
and those who perceived smoking as addictive were more likely to be ready
to quit. The effectiveness of smoking cessation programs might be improved
by matching interventions to a smoker's age and stage in the smoking
cessation process.
