Predictors of Readiness to Quit Stages and Intention to Quit Cigarette Smoking in 2 and 6 Months in Lebanon

Background: We aimed at examining quitting behaviors among Lebanese cigarette smokers in order to clarify characteristics of adults who were more likely to intend to quit smoking. Study design: A cross-sectional study. Methods: This study was conducted between March 2014 and March 2015, involving 382 patients randomly chosen from 5 outpatient clinics in 5 hospitals in Lebanon. A standardized questionnaire was completed including socio-demographic characteristics, smoking behavior, chronic respiratory symptoms, Fagerstrom scale, Mondor scale, packaging perception, quitting behavior and readiness to quit ladder. Results: 40.8% of participants reported having higher stages of readiness to quit while 33% and 7.9% of them intended to quit in 2 and 6 months later, respectively. Higher stages of readiness to quit were associated with high motivation to quit smoking (ORa=1.98; P=0.007), chronic wheezing and real quit attempt duration of ≥ 1 month (ORa=2.35, P=0.020 and ORa=2.15, P=0.003, respectively). Highly motivated smokers (ORa=1.83, P=0.040), who would have changed their favorite pack due to the graphical warnings (ORa=2.11, P=0.010) and who had past quit attempt (ORa=4.39, P