Smoking cessation intervention with young adults in bars and clubs

Introduction: Quitting smoking before age 30 reduces risk from smoking-related morbidity and mortality by 90%. Young adults attending bars have high smoking rates; this pilot study explored the feasibility of smoking cessation groups in bars. Methods: Participants were young adult smokers interested in quitting and identified as social leaders by key informants in the local bar scene in San Diego. Participants attended weekly social support based meetings for 10-12 weeks (two groups, total N=27). Meetings occurred in a local bar and included a smoking cessation counselor to provide evidence-based advice/information and monetary incentives. Each meeting, participants reported smoking status, which was validated with expired carbon monoxide (CO) readings. Results: At baseline, participants smoked an average of 11.2 cigarettes per day, and 17 participants had made about 2.5 prior quit attempts. Fifty-five percent of participants had perfect attendance and 17% missed ≤2 sessions. At the end of the intervention, participants had reduced their average number of cigarettes per day, from 11.2 to 6.8, and 74% of participants reported having tried to quit during the intervention. In addition, 37% (n=10) of the sample had quit (reported currently attempting to quit, time since last cigarette ≥ 1 day, and CO levels of ≤6ppm). CO monitoring, cash incentives, cessation counselor, and social support were rated as the most helpful aspects of the intervention. Discussion: Conducting a smoking cessation intervention for young adults in the bar setting is feasible, well-received by the participants and has positive effects on smoking cessation, reduction and quit attempts.