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Smoking cessation among transit workers: beliefs and perceptions among an at-risk occupational group

BACKGROUND: Transit workers, in comparison to the general population, have higher rates of smoking. Although smoking cessation programs are often available through workers’ HMOs, these programs are frequently underutilized. Quitting practices, including participation in cessation programs, are often...

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Autores principales: Battle, Robynn S, Cunradi, Carol B, Moore, Roland S, Yerger, Valerie B
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: BioMed Central 2015
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4488953/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25962517
http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/s13011-015-0012-7
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author Battle, Robynn S
Cunradi, Carol B
Moore, Roland S
Yerger, Valerie B
author_facet Battle, Robynn S
Cunradi, Carol B
Moore, Roland S
Yerger, Valerie B
author_sort Battle, Robynn S
collection PubMed
description BACKGROUND: Transit workers, in comparison to the general population, have higher rates of smoking. Although smoking cessation programs are often available through workers’ HMOs, these programs are frequently underutilized. Quitting practices, including participation in cessation programs, are often associated with beliefs about smoking behaviors and the ability to quit. We analyzed how transit workers’ beliefs about cessation might function as barriers to or facilitators of participating in cessation activities. FINDINGS: We conducted 11 focus group discussions with 71 workers (45% female; 83% African American) at an urban public transit agency. Most participants (83%) were bus operators. Only current smokers and former smokers were recruited. Both current and former smokers recognized the need to quit and some were familiar with or at least aware of cessation programs and pharmaceutical aids offered through their HMO. Many, however, believed there were factors, such as smoker’s readiness to quit, recognition of the elements of addiction, and personal or observed experience with cessation, that facilitated or impeded successful quit attempts. CONCLUSION: Beliefs play an important role and influence the extent to which transit workers participate in smoking cessation. Being cognizant of and addressing these beliefs so that workers gain an informed understanding is important when designing cessation programs. Doing so may help in creating tobacco cessation efforts that are seen as both attractive and beneficial to transit workers.
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spelling pubmed-44889532015-07-03 Smoking cessation among transit workers: beliefs and perceptions among an at-risk occupational group Battle, Robynn S Cunradi, Carol B Moore, Roland S Yerger, Valerie B Subst Abuse Treat Prev Policy Short Report BACKGROUND: Transit workers, in comparison to the general population, have higher rates of smoking. Although smoking cessation programs are often available through workers’ HMOs, these programs are frequently underutilized. Quitting practices, including participation in cessation programs, are often associated with beliefs about smoking behaviors and the ability to quit. We analyzed how transit workers’ beliefs about cessation might function as barriers to or facilitators of participating in cessation activities. FINDINGS: We conducted 11 focus group discussions with 71 workers (45% female; 83% African American) at an urban public transit agency. Most participants (83%) were bus operators. Only current smokers and former smokers were recruited. Both current and former smokers recognized the need to quit and some were familiar with or at least aware of cessation programs and pharmaceutical aids offered through their HMO. Many, however, believed there were factors, such as smoker’s readiness to quit, recognition of the elements of addiction, and personal or observed experience with cessation, that facilitated or impeded successful quit attempts. CONCLUSION: Beliefs play an important role and influence the extent to which transit workers participate in smoking cessation. Being cognizant of and addressing these beliefs so that workers gain an informed understanding is important when designing cessation programs. Doing so may help in creating tobacco cessation efforts that are seen as both attractive and beneficial to transit workers. BioMed Central 2015-05-13 /pmc/articles/PMC4488953/ /pubmed/25962517 http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/s13011-015-0012-7 Text en © Battle et al.; licensee BioMed Central. 2015 This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly credited. The Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication waiver (http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/) applies to the data made available in this article, unless otherwise stated.
spellingShingle Short Report
Battle, Robynn S
Cunradi, Carol B
Moore, Roland S
Yerger, Valerie B
Smoking cessation among transit workers: beliefs and perceptions among an at-risk occupational group
title Smoking cessation among transit workers: beliefs and perceptions among an at-risk occupational group
title_full Smoking cessation among transit workers: beliefs and perceptions among an at-risk occupational group
title_fullStr Smoking cessation among transit workers: beliefs and perceptions among an at-risk occupational group
title_full_unstemmed Smoking cessation among transit workers: beliefs and perceptions among an at-risk occupational group
title_short Smoking cessation among transit workers: beliefs and perceptions among an at-risk occupational group
title_sort smoking cessation among transit workers: beliefs and perceptions among an at-risk occupational group
topic Short Report
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4488953/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25962517
http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/s13011-015-0012-7
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