In 2010, the top mentioned things that prompted quitting among those who had tried or had quit in the past year were health-related reasons (43%), because they wanted to or were sick of smoking (36%), and encouragement or pressure from family or friends (15%). One in three (33%) of those who had quit or tried quitting had been advised by a health professional to quit smoking. Commonly mentioned cessation support was NRT (35%), friends/family (33%), the Quitline (21%), and general practitioners (18%).
Methodology
Current smokers (those who smoked at least monthly) who had tried to quit smoking in the past 12 months (n=237) and recent quitters (those who had quit smoking in the past 12 months (n=47) were asked:
• Who or what prompted you to do this?
• During the last 12 months, has a doctor, nurse, or other health professional advised you to quit smoking (yes/no)?
• Please identify any help, advice, programmes and products used to help you quit during your last quit attempt. Please say as many as apply
The first and the last questions were openended and verbatim responses were recorded. Responses were then grouped into one or more categories. Due to the low response in some categories, comparisons across sub-groups were not possible.