Prevalence of cigarette smoking and attempts to quit in a population-based cohort with spinal cord injury.

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVE: The purposes of this study were to assess (i) prevalence of smoking in a population-based cohort of persons with spinal cord injury (SCI), (ii) history of quit attempts and (iii) the relationship between access to health care, socioeconomic status (SES), smoking status and history of quit attempts. STUDY DESIGN: Cross-sectional study. SETTING: Population-based SCI cohort. METHODS: A total of 833 adults with SCI of at least 1-year duration were identified through a population-based surveillance system. Current smoking status, attempts to quit smoking in the past year and seeking professional help to quit smoking were assessed. RESULTS: Over one-third (35.3%) of the sample were current smokers, of whom 75.4% had ever tried to quit, and of these, only 27.9% had ever sought professional help. Those with lower SES were more likely to be current smokers, as were those with less access to health care. Access to care was positively related to likelihood of having sought professional help. CONCLUSIONS: We found rates of smoking among persons with SCI to be well above national prevalence rates. We also found poorer access to care related to a greater likelihood of being a current smoker, had no association with trying to quit smoking, but decreased likelihood of using cessation support among those who did attempt to quit.