Study Explores Smoking Cessation Aids And Strategies in Norway

A study published in BMC looked into the different smoking cessation strategies in Norway and their different success rates.

Diane Caruana

November 4, 2022

In Norway smoking rates have dropped from 30% in 2001 to 12% in 2018.

The study titled “Smoking cessation aids and strategies: a population-based survey of former and current smokers in Norway,” considered the fact that in the process of quitting smoking, smokers tend to choose between several smoking cessation aids and strategies.

In Norway, smoking rates have dropped from 30% in 2001 to 12% in 2018. Locally, tobacco consumption is equally divided between the combustible type (cigarettes) and non-combustible via snus.

The research team of the current study conducted cross-sectional representative surveys in Norway for 2017, 2018, 2019 and 2020. The analytic sample consisted of adult smokers who were divided in groups according to their number of quit attempts.

Snus users tended to not use other NRTs

The results indicated that 56% who smoked daily reported using cessation aids, with vapes and snus being the most popular types. “Fifty-six percent of people who ever smoked daily reported any use of cessation aids, and nicotine replacement therapy (NRT), snus and e-cigarettes were the most commonly used cessation aids. Snus and web/mobile use was associated with successful quits, while NRT was associated with unsuccessful quit attempts. When exclusive use was separated from the combined use of several aids, only snus was associated with successful quits.”

The researchers also found that snus users tend to not use other cessation aids. “Snus use was found to be a “stand-alone” cessation aid, and only weakly associated with the use of other cessation aids. Further investigation of cessation aid preferences is needed, especially among smokers with little or no contact with health services and/or for whom traditional cessation aids have no appeal.”