Key Point

Many smokers—especially women—have misconceptions about the health risks of smoking and about unwanted consequences of quitting.

MONTREAL—Smokers are aware that smoking is unhealthy, but misconceptions about exactly why it is unhealthy are widespread. In addition, there are significant differences between men and women regarding their feelings about smoking and reasons for not quitting. If these issues were addressed, it could give smokers a better chance of quitting permanently. At the annual meeting of the American College of Chest Physicians, a group from the North Shore–Long Island Jewish (LIJ) Health System in Great Neck, New York, reported these and other observations from a study that surveyed smokers’ perceptions about their tobacco use.¹

The survey included 482 men and 657 women who were involved in a smoking cessation program. Of the respondents, 71.9% of women and 59.4% of men believed that nicotine causes cancer. Along the same lines, 72% of women and 63% of men reported that they smoked “light” cigarettes, which they believed to be less harmful. Well over 50% of men and women worried that smoking might give them cancer.

Virginia Reichert, NP, Director of the Center for Tobacco Control at North Shore–LIJ Health System, remarked that when smokers choose “light” cigarettes, they tend to smoke more of them and inhale more deeply to get the nicotine, thus inhaling more of the harmful chemicals that are contained in cigarette smoke. “People smoke to get the addictive drug, nicotine, but the drug alone does not cause cancer,” she said. “The delivery system—a cigarette full of hundreds of toxic chemicals that are inhaled along with nicotine—does.”

More women than men (77.2% vs 61.7%) reported that they felt guilty about smoking. When asked about barriers to quitting, 41.4% of women and 14.6% of men reported a fear of gaining weight, 17.5% of women and 10.7% of men reported a fear of failure at quitting, and 63.1% of women and 55% of men worried about managing stress without cigarettes.

Interestingly, although men had more pack-years than women (33 and 27.5, respectively), both groups had relatively equal nicotine dependence scores. Thirty days after quitting, 59% of men and 54% of women were still not smoking.

“Our conclusions were that both genders quit similarly and they demonstrate similar knowledge deficits about tobacco and its health effects,” Ms. Reichert said. Additionally, she continued, women’s concerns about tobacco use far outweigh the concerns of men. To maximize the success of a smoker’s quit program, he or she should have not only behavior modification and pharmacotherapy but also intensive education to dispel common myths about tobacco use and its health effects. “We also feel [clinicians] really should focus on the emotional conflicts and knowledge deficits of the smokers.”

—Gale Jurasek

Reference
1. Reichert V, Folan P, DeGaetano C, et al. A study of gender discrepancies amongst smokers regarding perceptions of cigarette use. Presented at: annual meeting of the American College of Chest Physicians; November 1, 2005; Montreal, Quebec.

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