The most effective method

Even a small cash bonus dramatically increases the likelihood of quitting smoking

Sergey Kolenov, Hi-tech+

According to a new meta-analysis (Notley et al., Incentives for smoking session), a financial incentive increases the likelihood of quitting smoking by 50%. At the same time, the amount of remuneration does not matter.

Smoking costs the British treasury £13 billion a year, of which £3 billion is spent by the National Health Service. Researchers from The Cochrane community proposed a way to reduce these expenses – to pay remuneration to quitting smokers. According to scientists, the costs of such payments are incomparably less than the amounts spent on eliminating the consequences of smoking.

According to a press release from the University of East Anglia Rewards incentivise people to stop smoking, the team analyzed the results of 33 studies conducted in 8 countries. The total number of participants was 21,000 people. Pregnant women who tried to quit smoking participated in 10 studies.

The analysis showed that people who received a financial incentive quit smoking 50% more often. The amount of remuneration in the studies ranged from £35 to £912, but it turned out that the size of the incentive was not a determining factor and did not correlate with the probability of quitting a bad habit. Thus, even small payments helped to quit smoking.

Previous studies have expressed the fear that the reward is valid only for a short period of time. The new data dispelled it by demonstrating that study participants abstain from smoking for at least six months after the experiment.

The financial incentive is important because it supports the smoker in the first, most difficult stages of quitting addiction. In the future, a person can cope on their own.

According to scientists, health officials should take a closer look at the idea of monetary rewards as a means of combating smoking. Although this method does not give an absolute guarantee, it significantly increases the chances of success.

Quitting smoking is one of the important components of a healthy lifestyle. According to British and American researchers, proper nutrition, lack of bad habits and physical activity can reduce the risk of age-related dementia by at least a third, even in those who are genetically predisposed to it.

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