Motivación para dejar de fumar en funcionarios y estudiantes universitarios ex fumadores / Motivations to quit smoking among former smoker university students and workers

ABSTRACT

Background: In Chile, 10 percent of deaths in adults are directly attributed to smoking. Aim: To identify intrinsic and extrinsic motivations to quit smoking among a group of subjects that quitted without external help. Material and methods: The motivations to quit smoking were measured using the 20 items Reasons for Quitting Scale (RFQ), in 145 ex smokers (80 students and 65 workers at The University of Concepcion). The scale identifies intrinsic motivations in the categories health and self control and extrinsic motivations in the categories immediate reinforcement and social pressure. Results: Factorial analysis with orthogonal rotation of the 20 items of the scale, suggested an optimal solution with five factors, that had a maximal impact of 0.43 and explained the motivations in up to a 66 percent of workers and 65 percent of students. The factors with the greater impact were the items of immediate reinforcement, social pressure and self control. The category health had only a 6 percent influence in the modification of smoking habits. Conclusions: The most important motivations to quit smoking in this sample were an immediate reinforcement, social pressure and self control. The analysis of motivations will help to orient smoking cessation programs