Concern About Post-cessation Weight Gain Among Adult Male Intended To Quit Smoking In Chongqing City And Its Influencing Factors

Background Smoking is a preventable risk factor which causes respiratory diseases,cardiovascular diseases,cancers and other chronic diseases,and shortens human life.Smoking cessation brings much health benefit,but it is not easy to succeed for many influencing factors such as smoking cessation symptoms.Researches from abroad have found that smokers who planned to quit smoking had concern about the weight gain and image change after quitting,so they would not try to quit smoking or give up halfway.With cognitive intervention to eliminate concern,some individuals can lose weight and promote smoking cessation.Foreign studies have found that factors such as sex,BMI,nicotine dependence,smoking cessation and weight gain can affect the smoking-related weight concern,thereby affecting the intention of smoking cessation.However,there is not yet study about smoking-related weight concern among smokers with the intention of smoking cessation in China.Objective The aim of this study was to explore the perception of relationship between weight gain and smoking cessation among smokers with the intention of smoking cessation in Chongqing,China.To find the population of smokers who concerned about weight gain subsequent to stopping smoking and their characteristics.To understand the factors influencing the smoking-related weight concern,and whether the concern will affect willingness of smoking cessation.It will be helpful to provide targeted help for the domestic cessation seekers and promote smoking cessation.Methods We conducted a questionnaire survey of 1037 adult male smokers in Chongqing by using multistage sampling method which randomly selected Yuzhong District,Shapingba District,Jiulongpo District,Bishan district in Chongqing city as the investigation areas,and then randomly selected from parks and squares in these districts.All the subjects had the intention of quitting smoking,and smoked 1 cigarette or more per day.The survey time was from July 1,2017 to August 30,2017.The questionnaire used by the survey was compiled by our research team.It included demographic information,smoking status,perception of relationship between smoking cessation and weight gain,motivation of quitting smoking,concern about weight gain after smoking cessation,the confidence of controlling weight gain after quitting,the attempt of smoking cessation and the increase of weight,etc.To measure concerns about post-cessation weight gain and the confidence of controlling weight gain after stopping smoking,we quoted measurement scales-Concern about Post-cessation Weight Gain(CPWG)and Weight Efficacy after Quitting(WEAQ),which were developed by Belinda Borrelli professor of Boston University Goldman and his team.The CPWG measured smoking-related weight concern by asking subjects about their perception of smoking,smoking cessation,weight gain and concern.The WEAQ measured confidence in weight control by asking subjects about confidence in control their appetite and snacks after smoking cessation.The two scales contain six items,respectively.Items on each scale range from 1 to 10.1 is not at all concern or confident,and 10 is very much concern or confident.The Cronbach alpha coefficient was used to verify the reliability of the questionnaire.According to the results of pre survey,the Cronbach alpha coefficients of the CPWG scale and WEAQ scale were 0.802 and 0.855 respectively.The Chi square test and Logistic regression were used to analyze the data.Results(1)The proportion of subjects who were in favor of question "Smoking cessation will affect the weight of people who quit smoking","Weight gain after smoking cessation is an abstinence symptom","After quitting smoking,some people will have some weight gain","After smoking cessation,the weight of smokers increased rapidly in the first three months,and then slowed down",accounted for 36.1%,22.4%,29.6%,and 14.9%,respectively.The percentage of those who did not know was 34.8%,55%,51.6% and 68.4%,respectively.The rest of the group chose "objection" and "neither agree nor oppose".(2)There were 86(8.3%)subjects who had clear concern about weight gain after smoking cessation(score≥5 points of the CPWG scale)in the observed population.In the crowd,60(69.8%)of the young people(18-40 years old)had clear weight concern,and 1(1.2%)of the elderly(66-78 years old)had clear weight concern.The average score of concern about post-cessation weight gain(CPWG)was 2.56±1.52 in the survey population.In the scale,the average score of the question which measured the possibility of weight gain after smoking cessation for the subjects was 3.16 and 71% of them thought their weight would not change after smoking cessation.The average score of the question which asked importance of smoking to control weight gain after smoking cessation among reasons of smoking was 1.49 and 94.5% of the people believed that they will not smoke for weight control.Among the survey population,the proportion of the young people who had concern about weight gain after smoking cessation was 69.8%,and the elderly population was 1.2%.People of urban areas,unmarried status,higher level of culture or those who knew about the weight gain of quitting smoking were more likely to have higher concern level about weight gain after smoking cessation.(3)There was a positive correlation between smoking-related weight concern and the willingness to quit smoking in smokers with smoking cessation intention.The influence factors for the weight concern included weight gain in attempt to quit smoking,self-confidence to control weight gain after quitting smoking,perception about relationship between smoking cessation and weight gain,the motivation of smoking cessation and the amount of daily smoking.Conclusions The adult male smokers who planned to quit smoking in China were rarely concerned about the weight gain after smoking cessation,but there were also a small group of people with certain demographic characteristics.Most of the population was not aware of the relationship between smoking cessation and weight gain.More weight gain in quit attempts,more confidence in smoking-weight control,awareness of the weight gain after quitting,stronger willingness to quit smoking,more daily smoking predicted weight concern.The positive correlation between smoking cessation intention and concern about weight gain after smoking cessation was observed in this study.But considering the factors affecting the concern about weight increase after smoking cessation and the perception of relationship between smoking cessation and weight gain among the adult male smokers in china,perhaps it is their willingness to quit smoking that they will be aware about the weight gain after smoking cessation,so they showed a high degree of concern and high willingness to quit smoking,so the crowd is worth paying attention to.More researches are needed to explore the concern about weight gain after smoking cessation among people with smoking cessation intention in our country,and the relationship with the willingness to quit,and how to help the people to quit.