Abstract
BackgroundSmoking is highly prevalent in Pakistan claiming the lives of over 100,000 individuals every year. A significant proportion of smokers (24.7%) make an attempt to quit each year but 97.4% fail to quit successfully. Little is known about the reasons for, and experiences of, failed quit attempts. This study was carried out to explore the experiences of young male smokers in quitting smoking in the twin cities of PakistanMethodA qualitative study was carried out using a phenomenological approach in Rawalpindi and Islamabad. A total of 11 participants were interviewed. All study participants were male and had made at least one quit attempt. Study participants were a mix of smokers who failed to quit smoking, intermittent smokers and successful quitters. Streubert’s (1991) method of phenomenology was followed during data analysis.ResultsThe experiences of smokers while smoking “the smoking phase” have major effects on their journey towards quitting smoking. The smoking phase consists of three major stages: contact with initial smoking stimuli, the journey from first puff to enjoying smoking and then finally smoking becoming part of life. However, the journey towards quitting smoking is not as simple as the journey towards becoming a smoker. Instead, smokers get trapped in three overlapping cycles of smoking and quit attempts: smoking & forced quitting, smoking & intentional quitting, and smoking & intermittent smoking before successful quitting. Breaking the cycle is not easy in the presence of trapping factors (addiction, high availability, easy affordability, conducive social setup and low perceived risks of smoking). Three factors play a major role in breaking these cycles which are strong will power, continuous peer support and avoidance of smokers’ company.ConclusionA young smoker, during his experience of quitting smoking gets entrapped in several overlapping cycles of smoking & quit attempts before successful quitting. There are known entrapping factors as well as factors which help in breaking these cycles. Targeted interventions are needed to facilitate smoking cessation among young smokers in Pakistan.
Highlights
Smoking is highly prevalent in Pakistan claiming the lives of over 100,000 individuals every year
Smokers get trapped in three overlapping cycles of smoking and quit attempts: smoking & forced quitting, smoking & intentional quitting, and smoking & intermittent smoking before successful quitting
International literature points out higher rates of successful quitting compared with Pakistan
Summary
Smoking is highly prevalent in Pakistan claiming the lives of over 100,000 individuals every year. This study was carried out to explore the experiences of young male smokers in quitting smoking in the twin cities of Pakistan. Very few smokers (24.7%) make quit attempts in Pakistan as compared with other countries where 40%-50% of users try to quit every year [2,3,4,5]. The success rate of quitting is low in the country, only 2.6% succeed [6]. International literature points out higher rates of successful quitting compared with Pakistan. In Brazil, only 42.1% of smokers experience a relapse after a quit attempt [3]. In the United States, nearly 50% of smokers make at least one quit attempt in their life, the success rate is 3-5% for unaided attempts each year [5, 7]. A difference between the numbers of people willing to quit
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