Associations of subjective social status with nondaily and daily smoking.

OBJECTIVES: To explore associations between subjective social status (SSS) and smoking level among 2274 adult current smokers. METHODS: Associations were investigated using a covariate-adjusted proportional odds cumulative logit model. Moderation (via race/ethnicity or sex) and mediation (via depressive symptoms, social/emotional support, or life satisfaction) were explored in additional models. RESULTS: Higher SSS was associated with greater likelihood of nondaily versus light daily or moderate/ heavy daily smoking (p = .017). Life satisfaction partially mediated the association of SSS and smoking level (p = .003). CONCLUSIONS: Higher SSS was associated with greater likelihood of nondaily relative to light daily or moderate to heavy smoking, potentially via greater life satisfaction. Additional studies are needed to confirm these findings.

Perceptions of addiction, attempts to quit, and successful quitting in nondaily and daily smokers.

We aimed to qualitatively examine differences in perceptions of addiction, attempts to quit, and successful quitting among nondaily versus daily college student smokers. We conducted 16 focus groups with a total of 73 college student smokers from the southeastern U.S. Focus groups were homogenous in terms of gender, smoking status (nondaily, daily), and type of school (2-year college, 4-year university). Questions centered on perceptions of addiction, their own addiction, what constitutes a quit attempt, and successful quitting. Themes that emerged among all smokers regarding conceptualization of general addiction included physiological and psychological dependence and an inability to quit smoking. In terms of their own addiction, nondaily smokers referenced their ability to quit and sense of choice to smoke as factors indicating a lack of addiction, whereas daily smokers reported dependence symptoms and their inability to control their smoking indicating addiction. Nondaily smokers discussed quit attempts in terms of making the decision to quit and avoiding situational triggers, whereas daily smokers reported taking more behavioral steps toward cessation (e.g., not buying cigarettes, reducing cigarette consumption). With regard to successful cessation, both groups identified losing the desire to smoke as a hallmark. However, nondaily smokers reported that the decision to quit might constitute successful cessation; daily smokers had more strict behavioral criteria such as abstinence for an extended period of time. The different perceptions of one's own addiction, attempting to quit smoking, and successful quitting suggest the need to improve assessments of these factors, particularly among nondaily smokers.

Factors associated with discontinuation of bupropion and counseling among African American light smokers in a randomized clinical trial.

BACKGROUND: African Americans are at risk of inadequate adherence to smoking cessation treatment, yet little is known about what leads to treatment discontinuation. PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to examine the factors associated with discontinuation of treatment in African American light smokers (≤10 cigarettes per day). METHODS: Bupropion plasma levels and counseling attendance were measured among 540 African American light smokers in a placebo-controlled randomized trial of bupropion. RESULTS: By week 3, 28.0 % of subjects in the bupropion arm had discontinued bupropion, and only moderate associations were found between the plasma levels and self-reported bupropion use (r s = 0.38). By week 16, 36.9 % of all subjects had discontinued counseling. Males had greater odds of discontinuing medication (OR = 2.02, 95% CI = 1.10-3.71, p = 0.02), and older adults had lower odds of discontinuing counseling (OR = 0.96, 95% CI = 0.94-0.97, p < 0.0001). CONCLUSIONS: Bupropion and smoking cessation counseling are underutilized even when provided within the context of a randomized trial. Future research is needed to examine strategies for improving treatment utilization among African American smokers.

Perceived treatment assignment and smoking cessation in a clinical trial of bupropion versus placebo.

INTRODUCTION: Psychoactive effects of smoking cessation medi cations such as bupropion may allow participants in smoking cessation clinical trials to correctly guess their treatment assignment at rates greater than chance. Previous research has found an association between perceived treatment assignment and smoking cessation rates among moderate to heavy smokers (≥ 10 cigarettes per day [cpd]) in two bupropion clinical trials. METHODS: The aim of this study was to determine the impact of perceived treatment assignment on end-of-treatment cotinine-verified smoking abstinence at Week 7 and Week 26 among African American light smokers (≤ 10 cpd) enrolled in a double-blind, placebo-controlled study of bupropion. Participants (n = 390) included in this study reported their perceived treatment assignment on the end-of-treatment (Week 7) survey. RESULTS: Participants were predominantly female (63.1%), 48.1 years of age (SD = 11.2), and smoked an average of 8 cpd (SD = 2.5). Participants given bupropion were more likely to correctly guess their treatment assignment (69%; 140/203) than those assigned to placebo (51.3%; 96/187) (p < .0001). After adjusting for treatment condition, participants who perceived assignment to bupropion versus placebo were not more likely to be abstinent than those who perceived assignment to placebo at Week 7 or at Week 26. The interaction between treatment and perceived treatment assignment was also nonsignificant. CONCLUSIONS: Consistent with two previous studies testing bupropion, participants assigned to bupropion were more likely to correctly guess their treatment assignment than those assigned to placebo. However, in contrast to previous studies with heavier smokers, perceived treatment assignment did not significantly impact cotinine-verified abstinence in light smokers.

Adherence to varenicline among African American smokers: an exploratory analysis comparing plasma concentration, pill count, and self-report.

INTRODUCTION: Measuring adherence to smoking cessation pharmacotherapy is important to evaluating its effectiveness. Blood levels are considered the most accurate measure of adherence but are invasive and costly. Pill counts and self-report are more practical, but little is known about their relationship to blood levels. This study compared the validity of pill count and self-report against plasma varenicline concentration for measuring pharmacotherapy adherence. METHODS: Data were obtained from a randomized pilot study of varenicline for smoking cessation among African American smokers. Adherence was measured on Day 12 via plasma varenicline concentration, pill count, 3-day recall, and a visual analogue scale (VAS; adherence was represented on a line with two extremes "no pills" and "all pills"). RESULTS: The sample consisted of 55 African American moderate to heavy smokers (average 16.8 cigarettes/day, SD = 5.6) and 63.6% were female. Significant correlations (p < .05) were found between plasma varenicline concentration and pill count (r = .56), 3-day recall (r = .46), and VAS (r = .29). Using plasma varenicline concentration of 2.0 ng/ml as the cutpoint for adherence, pill count demonstrated the largest area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC = 0.85, p = .01) and had 88% sensitivity (95% CI = 75.0-95.0) and 80% specificity (95% CI = 30.0-99.0) for detecting adherence. CONCLUSIONS: Of 3 commonly used adherence measures, pill count was the most valid for identifying adherence in this sample of African American smokers. Pill count has been used across other health domains and could be incorporated into treatment to identify nonadherence, which, in turn, could maximize smoking cessation pharmacotherapy use and improve abstinence rates.