Correlates of unsuccessful smoking cessation among adults in Bangladesh

Having 21.9 million adult smokers, Bangladesh ranks among the top ten heaviest smoking countries in the world. Correlates of unsuccessful smoking cessation remain unknown. We aimed to identify the correlates of unsuccessful smoking cessation among adults in Bangladesh. We used data from the 2009 Global Adult Tobacco Survey (GATS) for Bangladesh. We compared socio-demographic, belief about health effect of smoking, and environmental characteristics of current smokers who had a recent failed quit attempt during the past 12 months of the survey (unsuccessful quitters) with those former smokers who had quit ≥ 12 months earlier of the survey and had not relapsed (successful quitters). Data were analyzed using logistic regression model and generalized estimating equations. A total of 1552 smokers (1058 unsuccessful quitters and 494 successful quitters) aged 15 years and older who participated in the survey was included in this study. Among the smokers, 1058 (68%) were unsuccessful quitters. Our analysis showed that older aged, female, and higher educated smokers were less likely to quit unsuccessfully. Moreover, who believed that smoking causes serious illness were also less likely to quit unsuccessfully. For the interaction between place of residence and smoking rules inside home, we found that among the smoker's, in those house smoking was allowed, and who lived in urban place were less likely to be unsuccessful in quitting than those who lived in rural place. Our findings suggest a cessation program that requires integrated approach with a view to considering these findings in setting up.