Background: Clinical guidelines on smoking cessation contain recommendations for various evidence-based methods. The goal of this study was to provide a represen- tative analysis for Germany of the percentage of smokers who try to quit smoking at least once per year, the use of evidence-based methods and other methods of smoking cessation, and potential associations of the use of such methods with the degree of tobacco dependence and with socioeconomic features.
Methods: Data from 19 waves of the German Smoking Behavior Questionnaire (Deutsche Befragung zum Rauchverhalten, DEBRA), from the time period June/July 2016 to June/July 2019, were analyzed. Current smokers and recent ex-smokers (<12 months without smoking) were asked about their smoking cessation attempts in the past year and the methods they used during the last attempt (naming more than one method was permitted). The degree of tobacco dependence in current smokers was assessed with the Heaviness of Smoking Index.
Results: Out of 11 109 current smokers and 407 recent ex-smokers, 19.9% (95% confidence interval: [19.1; 20.6]) had tried to quit smoking at least once in the preceding year. 13.0% of them [11.6; 14.5] had used at least one evidence-based method during their last attempt. The stronger the tobacco dependence, the more likely the use of an evidence-based method (odds ratio [OR] = 1.27 [1.16; 1.40]). Pharmacotherapy (nicotine replacement therapy, medication) was used more com- monly by persons with higher incomes (OR = 1.44 per 1000 euro/month [1.28; 1.62]). Electronic cigarettes were the most commonly used single type of smoking cessation support (10.2 % [9.0; 11.6]).
Conclusion: In Germany, only one in five smokers tries to quit smoking at least once per year. Such attempts are only rarely supported by evidence-based methods and are thus likely to fail. The high cost of treatment must be borne by the individual and thus fall disproportionately on poorer smokers. It follows that there is an urgent need for vered by health insurance pro- viders, in order to give all smokers fair and equal access to the medical care they need.