Predictors of smoking relapse in patients with thoracic cancer or head and neck cancer

BACKGROUND:

Cancer patients who continue smoking are at increased risk for adverse outcomes including reduced treatment efficacy and poorer survival rates. Many patients spontaneously quit smoking after diagnosis; however, relapse is understudied. The goal of this study was to evaluate smoking‐related, affective, cognitive, and physical variables as predictors of smoking after surgical treatment among patients with lung cancer and head and neck cancer.

METHODS:

A longitudinal study was conducted with 154 patients (57% male) who recently quit smoking. Predictor variables were measured at baseline (ie, time of surgery); smoking behavior was assessed at 2, 4, 6, and 12 months after surgery. Analyses of 7‐day point prevalence were performed using a Generalized Estimating Equations approach.

RESULTS:

Relapse rates varied significantly depending on presurgery smoking status. At 12 months after surgery, 60% of patients who smoked during the week prior to surgery had resumed smoking versus only 13% who were abstinent prior to surgery. Smoking rates among both groups were relatively stable across the 4 follow‐ups. For patients smoking before surgery (N = 101), predictors of smoking relapse included lower quitting self‐efficacy, higher depression proneness, and greater fears about cancer recurrence. For patients abstinent before surgery (N = 53), higher perceived difficulty quitting and lower cancer‐related risk perceptions predicted smoking relapse.

CONCLUSIONS:

Efforts to encourage early cessation at diagnosis, and increased smoking relapse‐prevention efforts in the acute period following surgery, may promote long‐term abstinence. Several modifiable variables are identified to target in future smoking relapse‐prevention interventions for cancer patients. Cancer 2013. © 2012 American Cancer Society.