Adler et al. (Tob Induc Dis. 2023 May 19;21:64) asked this question of several hundred participants who filled a medication prescription as part of their cessation process and were partnered with another individual. They looked at the partner smoking status at the beginning of the smoking cessation process with an outcome of successful smoking abstinence.
One-half of the patients had partners who smoked and one-half had nonsmoking partners. Thirty-nine percent of participants were able to quit. Interestingly, 39% of smokers with a nonsmoking partner were successful compared to 76% with the smoking partner who also stopped. In other words, having a partner who stopped smoking during the quitting process was associated with higher odds of quitting compared with having a nonsmoking partner (OR=4.73; 95% CI: 1.86–12.05; p=0.001), translating into an increased odds of over 450%!
Another study (Buitenhuis AH, et al.. A planning intervention to quit smoking in single-smoking couples: does partner involvement improve effectiveness? Psychol Health. 2021 Jan;36(1):1-15. PMID: 31880171) observed that involving a nonsmoking partner in the planning process of quitting was not superior to planning a quit on their own. This study specifically looked at the development of “if-then” strategies in which planned behaviors are specified within a situational context.
So what can we conclude from these data?
Before reading the Adler et al. article, my instincts told me that when I saw a patient in clinic who wanted to quit smoking and I was made aware of a smoking significant other, I needed to engage the smoking partner. Now, I can tell my patient who wants to quit that involving the partner in quitting will increase their chances of success stratospherically. The Buitenhuis et al. article informs me that there are many types of “support.” A nonsmoking partner may not be able to help a smoker wanting to quit by working through the “if-then” plans, as nobody knows this better than a smoker, but they certainly can provide empathy and validation for the process.
