Although smoking in adolescents and young adults has been declining in the 21st century in Finland, about 17% of 18-year-olds still smoke on a daily basis. Young adults are in fact one of the age groups that are most likely to smoke in several countries. Nevertheless, a large proportion of them are known to want to quit smoking.
Relatively little is known about the smoking habits of young adults. There are no evidencebased guidelines for smoking cessation in this age group. In many cases, they have been included within studies of adolescents or older adults without any separate analysis. Consequently, smoking cessation interventions demonstrated to be effective in middle-aged smokers are often adapted for young adults even though their culture, somatic features and smoking habits in many ways are different from those of middle-aged people.
This study focused on 18–26-year-olds in northern parts of Finland. Specific aims were 1) to describe their smoking habits, 2) to compare health and lifestyle in tobacco users and non-tobacco users, 3) to study their nicotine dependence and motivation to quit smoking, and 4) to examine the use and effectiveness of smoking cessation pharmacotherapy in this age group.
A total of 1163 male military recruits from northern parts of Finland filled in the study questionnaire. The survey study revealed that young adult males in northern parts of the country used tobacco products relatively often. Their smoking was associated with lower education, higher body mass index, inactivity in sports and impaired physical fitness. In addition, a great part of young smokers displayed symptoms of chronic bronchitis. Although most daily smokers were clearly dependent on nicotine and had previously tried to quit smoking, only 47% of the quitters had utilized any pharmacological aids in their attempts. Snus use seemed to be related to more severe nicotine dependence in smokers.
The prospective study consisted of 314 voluntary young adult daily smokers who were motivated to quit smoking. The study was a randomised, placebo-controlled clinical trial, and the results indicated that varenicline might be more effective than nicotine patches in smoking cessation of young adult heavy smokers, at least in short term. Abstinence rates during the followup were similar when the nicotine patch and placebo patch were compared in young adult light smokers.
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Academic dissertation to be presented with the assent of the Doctoral Training Committee of Health and Biosciences of the University of Oulu for public defence in Auditorium F201 of the Faculty of Medicine, on 22 April 2016, at 12 noon
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