Stereotypes say that women are less likely to quit smoking than men, but research published online in Tobacco Control shows that this is nothing more than idle gossip. If it were true it would of course have wide ranging implications for all manner of smoking cessation, from public awareness campaigns that target women more than men, through to a different therapy and support for women.

The rumor seems to have come from data on smoking cessation aids, which show men being more successful at kicking the weed than women. However, the authors of this new research obviously did a better job by looking at more than 100,000 smokers, including data from US Tobacco Use Supplement to the Current Population Survey; the Canadian Tobacco Use Monitoring Survey; and the UK General Household Survey.

The results appear to be pretty much the same between the three countries, which is itself quite interesting, because although Canada, the UK and the USA share the same language, they have some quite different cultural and national traits:

  • In those under 50, women were more likely than men to successfully give up smoking. This was particularly evident among those in their 20s and 30s. Researchers didn’t give specific reasons. Perhaps the macho, adventurous image of smoking, holds sway with men more than women, or perhaps women of childbearing age are more likely to be concerned about their health and or quit before or during pregnancy.
  • In older groups, roles appear reversed with men over the age of 60 more likely to give up smoking than women, although the authors suggest that this may simply reflect higher death rates from smoking in older men, thus some men are giving up by default, rather than by design.
  • Excluded users of smokeless tobacco, and included those who had given up smoking for more than a year, the proportion of women who quit was higher in the US and Canada.
  • The rates were just over 50% among women, compared with just over 46.5% in men in the US and just over 46% and with just over 43% in Canada. No such figures were available for Britain.

The authors do point out though, that men are less likely to seek formal help than women, and those that quit on their own may have been omitted from the data to some degree. Thus the figures for women might be slightly biased. Nonetheless, the research shows that it’s far more beneficial to use date from the general population, rather than isolated studies.

They go on to add:

“Our study has found convincing evidence that men in general are not more likely to quit smoking successfully than women. The myth of female disadvantage at quitting smoking is bad, first and foremost, for women, [who may be tempted to believe it].”

The authors conclude that myths such as these don’t help men much either, leaving them thinking they have some kind of built in advantage to quitting smoking, while any kind of stereotype driven ideas, can’t help to guide healthcare professionals.

They stated: “It is bad for gender stereotypes in a world where inaccurate stereotypes are rife…It is time to put aside the idea that women are less successful than men at giving up smoking.”

Written by Rupert Shepherd