Introduction: Delaying a quit date until later may be a cause of, or marker for, low motivation to quit. We tested this possibility in a secondary analysis of a recent clinical trial that allowed smokers flexibility in setting a quit date.
Methods: The trial compared quitting abruptly versus gradually with nicotine lozenge among smokers who were actively trying to quit. Smokers in the abrupt conditions set a quit date sometime between 1 and 3 weeks after study onset; smokers in the gradual condition set a quit date sometime between 3 and 5 weeks after study entry. Within each condition, we examined whether later quit dates were associated with less success.
Results: Independent of study condition, those who set a later quit date were less likely to make a quit attempt, more likely to lapse early on, and showed a nonsignificant trend to be less likely to be abstinent at 6-month follow-up. Those who quit after their planned quit date were more likely to lapse and showed a nonsignificant trend toward less abstinence than those who quit before or on their quit date.
Conclusions: Delaying a quit attempt prospectively predicts less success among smokers actively trying to quit. Whether this represents a causal effect is unclear. Further replication tests of our findings and, possibly, randomized trials of quitting sooner versus later are indicated. If delaying reduces cessation success, then treatments for smoking cessation should encourage quitting very soon upon treatment entry.