An Analysis of Variables Discriminating Between Quitter and Non-quitter Groups among Thai Alcohol-dependent Smokers

The purpose of this study was to identify such variables. This study used a cross-sectional research design involving 375 alcohol-dependent smokers who had received smoking cessation intervention from health care providers. The participants were selected using the convenience sampling technique, and a multistage random sampling was used to select two hospitals, and the Thailand National Quit-line for involvement in this study. All participants completed five questionnaires: 1) the Processes of Change Questionnaire (PCQ), 2) the Self-efficacy Questionnaire (SEQ), 3) the Decisional Balance Questionnaire (DBQ), 4) the Severity of Alcohol Dependence Questionnaire (SADQ), and 5) the Fragestrom Test for Nicotine Dependence (FTND). The acquired data was analyzed using percentages, means, standard deviations, and discriminant analysis. The major findings of the study were as follows: the variables that could discriminate between the „quitter‟ and “non-quitter”groups among Thai alcohol-dependent smokers, at the 0.05 significance level were process of behavior change, nicotine dependency, self efficacy and decisional balance. Furthermore, alcohol-dependent smokers in the “quitter” group were found to possess lower levels of nicotine dependence, higher score of process of behavior change, higher levels of self efficacy and higher decision-making abilities than those in the non-quitter group. The findings suggested that smoking cessation intervention strategies for Thai alcohol-dependent smokers should target the process of behavior change, nicotine dependence, self efficacy and decisional balance. However, level of alcohol dependence among alcohol dependent smokers was not significantly able to discriminate between quitter and non-quitter groups. Future studies should consider for develop the effective smoking cessation intervention for this population.