Behaviour of long-term weight following smoking cessation

Weight gain often accompanies smoking cessation and is considered to be an important cause of unsuccessful quit attempts. We analyzed data from smoking cessation programm to identify risk factors of weight gain. 703 employees from University Hospital Basel, Switzerland, and two local health industry companies (Novartis Pharma AG, F.Hoffmann- La Roche AG) absolved a structured smoking cessation programm. This consisted of 10 visits with counselling and motivational support. Various modalities of both nicotine replacement therapy and/or bupropion were offered. The impact of factors on weight gain in longterm nicotine abstinence was analyzed by a linear mixed effect model. Smoking cessation at 24 months was associated with a weight gain of 2.76 kilogram (95% CI 1.85; 3.66; p= 0.0001). Weight gain occurred independently from age (0.03 95% CI -0.02; 0.08; p= 0.13) and gender (0.13 95% CI -1;1.28; p=0.14). Higher baseline weight was correlated with a greater weight increase within 2 years (1.01 95% CI 0.97; 1.04; p= 0.001). Weight gain was further affected by the interaction of time and medication (d.f.: 30; F-value: 1.98; p=0.001) (Table). Weight gain a after smoking cessation attempt: Linear mixed effect model Num d.f. Den d.f. F-value p-value AGE 1 424 1.47 0.23 Gender 1 424 0.05 0.83 Center 2 424 0.52 0.60 Weight (baseline) 1 424 2803 <0.001 Abstinence (24 months) 1 424 35.7 <0.001 Treatment 5 424 1.80 0.11 Interaction (visit/medication) 30 424 1.98 0.001 Weight change after a quit attempt was not only affected by the outcome of smoking cessation, but also by baseline weight and the interaction of time and medication. Knowledge about individual risk factors for weight gain could help to resolve barriers to cessate smoking.