Selecting Your Quit-smoking Program

Comparing Programs

The best way to compare programs would be to find out for each One the percentage of people who successfully quit smoking out of all who attempted. That sounds easy enough. But, in practice, this is very difficult. First, many organizations and companies do not know the success rates of their programs.

Others who know their rates may be reluctant to make them public. It might be felt that low success rates will discourage smokers. This can be a problem when the creators of honest programs have to compete with the claims of dishonest competitors.

Each program should be able to quote you a success rate. If one doesn't, be wary. Unless you're asking about a new program that is in the process of being evaluated, we would probably recommend that you avoid the program or technique.

Cold Turkey Versus Tapering

Research indicates there are two basic ways to stop smoking-either immediately (cold turkey) or gradually (tapering). The different programs you'll be reading about use one of these two approaches. So you'll have to decide not only what program to use but also how quickly you want to stop.

There are pros and cons to each approach. If you stop cold turkey, you're done smoking. All of your energy goes into maintenance remaining a nonsmoker. But you may experience more symptoms of withdrawal. And cold turkey can be terrifying. To be a smoker one minute and not be allowed to have a cigarette the next can cause a panicky reaction. But many smokers (as well as many experts in the field) feel it's really the only way to succeed.

On the other hand, tapering appears to be easier. You're not stopping all at once, so withdrawal symptoms can be minimized. However, it may be harder to get rid of that last cigarette. In addition, some critics feel that tapering makes it much easier to slide back into old smoking habits.

To begin, you may want to first decide if you prefer to stop cold turkey or gradually. Then, pick a program that incorporates the chosen approach. Or you may want to select the program that most appeals to you and then follow whatever approach it uses.

Additional Factors To Consider

Now let's discuss some of the additional factors that you'll want to take into account when selecting the best program for you. When asking about success rates, you'll also want to consider issues such as timing, methods of follow-up and counting, and type of participants.

Timing

Even when program success rates are quoted, companies often neglect to tell you when these rates were determined. What is most important for you to know? The long-term success rate of a program. After all, what good is a program if it helps most days of completion? Unfortunately, this information may not be available for many programs.

Follow-Up

You should know how success rates were determined. The rates may be inflated. Why? Often, this information is obtained by interviews, and some people may be too embarrassed to admit that they've gone back to smoking again. Also, as far as statistics are concerned, you should learn how the program dealt with participants who could not be found or who dropped out of the program. Participants who didn't return phone calls or who quit the program probably went back to smoking. Statistics that ignore these people will probably offer inflated and inaccurate success rates.

The Participants

Wouldn't you like to know something about who participated in the program? Were they heavy or light smokers? How motivated were they? Were they like you? In other words, would their results give you an idea ofhow successful you might be?

Success rates may give you a glimpse of a program's value, but you should also ask, "Compared to what?" In the best studies, smokers are divided randomly among two or more different programs and then followed closely to determine their success. Success rates are most useful when they can be compared between similar groups.

So where does this leave you? There is no easy answer to the question, "Is this program effective?" It is important for you to learn about the programs that interest you, find out if they make sense to you, and determine whether or not they have the endorsement of respected organizations in your community. Finally, you have to be comfortable with whatever program or technique you select. This factor, although vague, is probably the most critical . One for your success.

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