Prevalence of hardcore smoking in England, and associated attitudes and beliefs: cross sectional study
Open accessAbstract
Objective To quantify the prevalence and characteristics of hardcore smokers in England. Design Cross sectional survey. Setting Interview in respondents' household. Participants 7766 adult cigarette smokers. Main outcome measures Hardcore smoking defined by four criteria (less than a day without cigarettes in the past five years; no attempt to quit in the past year; no desire to quit; no intention to quit), all of which had to be satisfied. Results Some 16% of all smokers were categorised as hardcore. Hardcore smoking was associated with nicotine dependence, socioeconomic deprivation, and age, rising from 5% in young adults aged 16-24 to 30% in those aged ≥ 65 years. Hardcore smokers displayed distinctive attitudes towards and beliefs about smoking. In particular they were likely to deny that smoking affected their health or would do so in the future. Prevalence of hardcore smoking was almost four times higher than in California. Conclusion Hardcore smoking presents a serious challenge to public health efforts to reduce the prevalence of smoking, but the proportion of hardcore smokers does not necessarily increase as overall prevalence in a population declines. More hardcore smokers could be persuaded to quit, but this will require interventions that are targeted to the particular needs and perceptions of both socially disadvantaged and older smokers.
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Others have argued that the smoking population itself may have changed and that remaining smokers are more nicotine dependent and find it harder to stop.
“Others have argued that the smoking population itself may have changed 84,85 and that remaining smokers are more nicotine dependent and find it harder to stop.”
From Evaluating Long-term Outcomes of NHS Stop Smoking Services (ELONS): a prospective cohort study (2015) · cites this paper as [84]
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Evaluating Long-term Outcomes of NHS Stop Smoking Services (ELONS): a prospective cohort study
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- Authors
- Jarvis, M. J., Wardle, J., Waller, J., & Owen, L.
- Affiliations
- Cancer Research UK (GB)
- Corresponding author
- Jarvis, Martin J
- Venue
- BMJ
- Publisher
- BMJ
- Published
- 2003-05-15
- Volume
- 326
- Issue
- 7398
- Pages
- 1061
- ISSN
- 0007-1447 (ISSN-L)
- 0959-8138
- 1468-5833
- PMC
- PMC155688
- OpenAlex
- W2170609239
- Cited by
- 159
- References
- 14
- Citations by year
- 2025: 2 · 2024: 1 · 2023: 3 · 2022: 7 · 2021: 5 · 2020: 2 · 2019: 4 · 2018: 4 · 2017: 7 · 2016: 5 · 2015: 10 · 2014: 9 · 2013: 11 · 2012: 14
- FWCI
- 4.80
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- bronze
- doi.org
- Licence
- www.bmj.com/company/legal-information/terms-conditions/legal-information/tdm-licencepolicy (tdm)
- Locations
- BMJ (publishedVersion)
- Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (publishedVersion)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- UCL Discovery (University College London) (submittedVersion)
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Physiology › Smoking Behavior and Cessation
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Epidemiology › Substance Abuse Treatment and Outcomes
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Pulmonary and Respiratory Medicine › Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) Research
- Keywords
- smoking prevalence, nicotine dependence, smoking cessation, attitudes toward smoking, socioeconomic deprivation, older smokers, young adult smokers, England
- MeSH terms
- Adolescent, Adult, Attitude to Health, Cross-Sectional Studies, England, Female, Humans, Male, Middle Aged, Smoking, Prevalence, Age Distribution
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