Persistent Electronic Warnings Push Some Smokers to Quit

	Tweet

Go ahead. Nag, nag, nag. It might do some good after all.

The more smokers worry about health risks, the more they will contemplate quitting, according to a new study in the latest issue of the journal Annals of Behavioral Medicine. Warning messages create worry that can nudge smokers down that road, the researchers concluded.

“We didn’t set out with the goal of trying to get people to quit,” said Renee Magnan, a psychologist at the University of New Mexico. The idea was to prompt smokers to think about it. “The more we can do to get them motivated, the better.”

Magnan and colleagues recruited 119 smokers, with an average age of 26. Half were students at North Dakota State University and the others were from the neighboring Fargo community. During a meeting, researchers told participants that the experiment was about communicating smoking-related information. The researchers said they would not ask smokers to quit, but smokers would receive messages on a personal digital assistant (PDA) eight times a day during the first week and six times a day the second week.

Researchers divided the smokers into two groups. For one group, the messages focused on various hassles — stress and money, for example. The other group received antismoking messages, some of which described how it affects nonsmokers when someone else smokes or how smoking can lead to wrinkles and yellow teeth. However, Magnan said the messages with more influence concerned serious health effects. The most worrisome was, “93 percent of lung cancer patients die within five years.”

More than half of participants getting serious antismoking messages reported trying to quit during the intervention. Comparatively, about 19 percent of smokers in the other group said they tried to quit.

The research highlights an “innovative way to expose people to these messages,” said Danielle McCarthy, a clinical psychologist at Rutgers University. “Worry seems to be part of what’s important,” she added.

The issue of how to warn smokers about health risks is a concern for researchers. “There is some good evidence to the complete ineffectiveness of our current warning labels,” McCarthy said. “Larger warnings are better. That’s one piece of the puzzle.”

Magnan, who was involved with the study while doing graduate work in North Dakota, said the evidence could move researchers to learn more about how often to expose smokers to such messages. “Also, it’s entirely likely that the type of smoker is important. It may work best for smokers who are thinking about quitting,” she said. “It may help them move from thinking to doing.”

Magnan RE, et al. The effects of warning smokers on perceived risk, worry and motivation to quit. Annals of Behavioral Medicine 31(1), 2009.

Source: Health Behavior News Service

RELATED STORIES:
Cigarette smoking’s impact lingers after quitting   Childhood stroke study identifies the contraceptive pill and smoking as risk factors   USC Expert on Medical Marijuana Available   New Help to Stop Smoking   Tobacco Company Misrepresented Danger from Cigarettes   Global anti-smoking pact takes effect on Sunday   Cannabis and adolescence   Statins May Increase Risk of Interstitial Lung Abnormalities in Smokers   Tobacco still being used by athletes, coaches   Nicotine patch helps teens cut back on cigarettes   New study demonstrates nicotine’s role in smoking behavior   Bhutan bans smoking in world first

Comments

[ + Post Your Own ]

Now you're in the public comment zone. What follows is not Armenian Medical Network's stuff; it comes from other people and we don't vouch for it. A reminder: By using this Web site you agree to accept our Terms of Service. Click here to read the Rules of Engagement.

There are no comments for this entry yet. [ + Comment here + ]