Predictors of Smoking Cessation among Staff in Public Universities in Klang Valley, Malaysia

Smoking cessation studies are often performed in clinic based settings. The present example aimed to findpredictors of success among staff in worksite smoking cessation programmes in two major public universitiesin Klang Valley, Malaysia. All staff from both universities received an open invitation via staff e-mail and lettersto participate. At the start of treatment, participants were administered the Rhode Island Stress and CopingQuestionnaire and Family Support Redding’s Questionnaire. Behaviour therapy with free nicotine replacementtherapy (NRT) were given as treatment. After two months, they were contacted to determine their smokingstatus. 185 staff from University A (n=138) and University B (n=47), responded and voluntarily showed interestto quit. There was no significant difference in respondents with respect to socio demographic characteristicsand smoking history. After two months of treatment, quit rates were 24% in University A vs. 38 % in UniversityB (p>0.05). Univariate predictors of cessation were adherence to NRT (p<0.001), smoking fewer cigarettes perday (p<0.05) and the number of behaviour therapy sessions attended (p<0.001). Logistic regression identified 3significant predictors of smoking cessation. Participants attending more than one session (OR= 27.00; 95% CI: 6.50; 111.6), and having higher pre-treatment general stress (OR= 2.15; 95% CI: 1.14; 4.05) were more likelyto quit, while a higher number of cigarettes smoked (OR= 0.19: 95% CI: 0.06; 0.59) reduced the likelihoodof quitting. Increasing age, ability to cope with stress and family support were not significant predictors. Weconclude that factors such as the number of counseling sessions, the amount of cigarettes smoked at baseline,adherence to NRT and pretreatment stress are important considerations for success in a worksite smokingcessation programme.