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IMAGE SOURCE: Wikimedia Commons/ smoking cessation symbol/ author: AIGA Design
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Offering cash to smokers to get them to give up cigarettes might just be a strong enough incentive to lead to success, new research finds.
Researchers from the University of Pennsylvania used a study group of about 900 General Electric employees across the country. Half were offered up to $750 to quit. The other half was not offered a financial incentive. After one year, 14.7 percent of the compensated group was still smoke-free. Among the uncompensated smokers, only five percent had quit.
"Incentives do work in changing health behaviors, and they can be successful in people who have not succeeded using other approaches in the past," said study author Dr. Kevin Volpp, director of the Center for Health Incentives at the University of Pennsylvania, School of Medicine and the Wharton School in Philadelphia, told US News.
The success rate far exceeded what is normally seen in smoking-cessation efforts where just two to three percent of smokers quit.
Volpp believes offering a financial incentive offers immediate gratification and may be a powerful tool to use in the workplace to promote health.
The research appears in the February 12 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM). There are about 47 million former smokers, most take several attempts to quit.
Smoking-Cessation Drugs
IB News- Houston reminds us that the FAA last May announced that the Pfizer smoking-cessation drug, Chantix would no longer be included in the list of medications that pilots and air traffic controllers are allowed to take, due to concerns for passenger safety. Also the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration has banned the use of Chantix by 18-wheeler drivers.
Other Options for Quitting
Smokers wanting to say goodbye to their cigarettes, tend to have better luck in a social network with the support and influence of friends and family.
If you are a smoker, quitting can lower your risk of dying from coronary heart disease by 21 percent in five years. Give it 20 years and your risk of dying from those diseases is the same as those who never smoked. #