Quitting smoking: Experiences from the Southwestern region, Saudi Arabia

Abstract

Background: Tobacco a huge global public health problem with 1.3 billion smokers worldwide contributed to 8.8% of all deaths and 4.1% of DALYs. Current prevalence of tobacco in Saudi is 12.1% considering the extent of tobacco smoking as a health issue. Objective: This study aims to find out the smoking patterns, quitting trials and determinants of smoking cessation among smokers in Aseer region. Methods: This study was conducted in six main antismoking clinics located in Abha city, Aseer region using a purposive sampling technique, this medical-record based, retrospective cohort study included data of all smokers (695) who attended the centers for the sake of quitting smoking. Results: A small percentage (12.8%) had successfully quit smoking i.e. they were smoking free for more than one year. A large proportion (78.3%) reported a previous attempt to quit smoking. Among those who tried to quit smoking, the number of trials ranged from to 1 to 6 times with an average of 2.34 ± 1.46 times and a median of 2 times. The average age of those trying to quit smoking (30.69+10.18 years) was significantly (t=2.127, P=0.034) lower than the corresponding figures of those who did not (32.69 ± 10.31 y). Conclusion: A good proportion of the respondents have a desire to quit and attempts quitting. The tobacco control program in Saudi Arabia has made great efforts with setting up of smoking cessation clinics that are manned with family physicians.