WHO IS A SUCCESSFUL QUITTER - ONE-YEAR FOLLOW-UP OF A NATIONAL TOBACCO QUIT AND WIN CONTEST IN SWEDEN

The first nation-wide Quit and Win Contest in Sweden was held in 1988 with 12,840 participants. This corresponds to a participant rate of 6. 4 per 1,000 daily tobacco users in Sweden. In order to follow up the l ong-term effects of cessation and to analyse the determinants for succ essful cessation, a panel (n = 946) of randomized participants were fo llowed-up at 6 and 12 months with a mailed questionnaire. This gave a complete set of data for 557 (panel) respondents. Available baseline d ata from the participants' entry forms included sex, age, occupation, specific tobacco habits, quitting attempts during the previous year, a nd place of residence. At the 12-month follow-up 21% had been tobacco free for the whole year. In addition 9% of the participants relapsed i nto tobacco-use, then quit again and were tobacco free at the 12-month follow-up. The success rate for those participants (14%) who used smo keless tobacco (oral snuff) was similar to that of smokers. The logist ic regression showed a significantly better prognosis for success amon g those without any earlier quitting attempts during the previous pear (OR 2.35), if the subjects participated of their own volition rather than having been recruited by a non-tobacco user (OR 1.74), and if the y were married/co-habiting (OR 1.92), the results were also significan tly improved. The results also show that as a population-based method, Quit and Win produced many successful tobacco quitters, and one year after the contest one-fifth of the participants were still abstinent.