Relation among stage of change, demographic characteristics, smoking history, and nicotine dependence in an adult German population

Background The aim of this study was to provide evidence about the individual intention to quit smoking and accompanying characteristics in a country with a low amount of tobacco control (TC) provisions. Methods This study used a random sample of the population aged 18–64 in a German area to make a quantitative estimation of the stages of change to quit smoking among current smokers who had at least one quit attempt (n = 1075). Results The rate of those who did not intend to stop smoking (precontemplators) was 76.4%, that of those who intended to quit during the next 6 months (contemplators) was 17.0%, and that of those who intended to quit during the next 4 weeks was 6.6%. The three groups did not differ according to gender or age. Of those who had at least 16 years of education, more were contemplators than were those with fewer years of education. Among those who had somatic complaints or nausea from smoking, who had their first cigarette within 1 h or less after awakening, and who had more quit attempts, more were in the contemplation or preparation stage. Conclusions Nicotine dependence may add to contemplating about quitting. The precontemplation rate was substantially higher than in samples from nations or states which show a large amount of TC provisions.