Smoking relapse and withdrawal symptoms among smokers accessing smoking cessation services provided by the primary care settings of Qatar

Abstract

Objectives: To investigate and highlight the factors associated with smoking relapse and to demonstrate the withdrawal symptoms related to smoking cessation. Methods: This study is part of a larger historical cohort involved 490 participants who attended smoking cessation clinics in primary health care settings. A total of 143 relapsed after they initially quit smoking and included in this study. The participants were interviewed by phone using a structured questionnaire after obtaining informed consent. Frequency distribution tables and proportions were used to describe the study results. Results: More than half (55.9%) of participants who initially quit smoking by attending the smoking cessation clinics reported that relationships with smokers were the main reason for smoking relapse. Emotional or social problems led to relapse among 38.5% of the participants. Withdrawal symptoms were relatively low (14.7%). An increase in appetite was prevalent among 74.8% of smoking quitters as the main withdrawal symptom. This was followed by weight gain in 72%, craving for cigarettes/smoking in 71.3%, and feelings of anger in 53.1%. All the tested sociodemographic variables, namely: age, sex, nationality, income, education, and marital status, failed to show a statistically significant association with early timing of relapse (1–6 months). Conclusion: The study identified various factors linked to smoking relapse among individuals using smoking cessation services. Relationships with smokers and emotional or social problems were the most common reasons. Additional research is needed to investigate strategies and interventions specifically targeting early smoking relapse to attain the desired health outcomes from smoking cessation services.