Phenomenological insight into the motivation to quit smoking

INTRODUCTION: Quitting tobacco is often viewed as a difficult experience as the dependence includes sets of behavioral, cognitive, social, and physiologic phenomena that prevent most smokers from having a successful first attempt of quitting. The aim of this qualitative study was to gain insight into and understand the motivation for attempts to quit smoking in relation to the stages of the behavior change model.

METHOD: The study team based this qualitative study on Alfred Schütz's social phenomenology framework. The study team planned for fourteen in-depth interviews with patients registered at a Quit Smoking Clinic. Each in-depth session lasted 45-60 min and we audio recorded them with consent. Following full verbatim transcription, the study team carried out detailed thematic analysis using Nvivo software.

RESULTS: Out of a total of 14 patients, 10 agreed to participate (response rate 71.4%). Seven participants (70%) had successfully quit smoking, while the remaining 30% relapsed after the first quit attempt. The study team extracted from the data three key themes with eight child nodes: barriers to quitting smoking, reasons for quit attempt, and how to quit. Unsuccessful attempts were related to tobacco addiction and successful attempts were based on the need to improve one's health and family. The study explored two intrinsic (self-realization and healthy lifestyle) and two extrinsic motivations (family's health and role model for children) for attempting to quit.

CONCLUSION: The study highlights the importance of psychological support in successful quit attempts. Treatment providers should encourage behavior change through intrinsic goals, as such goals, compared to extrinsic goals, have a long-term and positive impact because they can activate autonomous motivation.