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OBJECTIVES: We compared smoking quit rates by age in a nationally representative sample to determine differences in cessation rates among younger and older adults. METHODS: We used data on recent dependent smokers aged 18 to 64 years from the 2003 Tobacco Use Supplement to the Current Population Survey (n=31625). RESULTS: Young adults (aged 18-24 years) were more likely than were older adults (aged 35-64 years) to report having seriously tried to quit (84% vs 66%, P<.01) and to have quit for 6 months or longer (8.5% vs 5.0%, P<.01). Among those who seriously tried to quit, a smoke-free home was associated with quitting for 6 months or longer (odds ratio OR=4.13; 95% confidence interval CI=3.25, 5.26). Compared with older smokers, young adults were more likely to have smoke-free homes (43% vs 30%, P<.01), were less likely to use pharmaceutical aids (9.8% vs 23.7%, P<.01), and smoked fewer cigarettes per day (13.2% vs 17.4%, P<.01). CONCLUSIONS: Young adults were more likely than were older adults to quit smoking successfully. This could be explained partly by young adults, more widespread interest in quitting, higher prevalence of smoke-free homes, and lower levels of dependence. High cessation rates among young adults may also reflect changing social norms.
Messer et al. (Thu,) studied this question.