Offer financial incentives to double smoking cessation rates

A new study has suggested that smoking cessation rates get doubled by offering small financial incentives to socio-economically disadvantaged smokers.

Research from the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHealth) revealed that smoking is becoming increasingly concentrated in socio-economically disadvantaged populations as nearly 30 percent of people living in poverty continue to smoke, despite smoking rates declining to 18 percent among American adults because of public health efforts.

Researcher Darla Kendzor said that they wanted to investigate how small and potentially cost-effective financial incentives might help patients from safety net hospital, which provide a significant level of care to low-income, uninsured and vulnerable populations, quit smoking.

Kendzor added that they found that women assigned to the financial incentives intervention had the highest cessation rates that was surprising because women often have lower cessation rates than men participating in treatment.

The study is published in the American Journal of Public Health.