Do Rewards Help Smokers Quit?
Some workplaces offer employees $10 for every month they're able to kick their smoking habits; others give people lottery tickets every day they don't take a drag. But rewards and contests designed to help smokers quit aren't effective in the long term, according to a review by the Cochrane Collection, which analyzes medical research. None of the 17 studies analyzed was able to see higher long-term cessation rates from rewarded would-be quitters than from a control group. Quitters were able to abstain from smoking at a higher rate for a short period after participating in some of the contests. But researchers concluded that any positive effects inspired by the contests faded away shortly after the incentives ended.
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Posted By: stephiey13 @ 08/12/2008 9:10:59 PM
Comment: It is silly to think that 10 dollars a month or a lottery ticket is going to get someone to quit smoking, I mean it cost, in some places, 10 dollars a day just to smoke. Smoking is an addiction, I know because I smoke, and yes I have quit, three times to be exact, twice I quit when I was pregnant and then once just because I wanted to, quiting isnt the hard part, staying quit is the hard part. The funny thing is, if you are quit for a year or two or even longer, the urge to smoke is always with you and is just as strong on day 459 than it is on day 5. If anyone has the trick to quitting long term without the urge or craving for a smoke, please let me know.