Kalkhoran S, et al. - The link between financial strain, quit attempts, and successful smoking cessation was determined among adult smokers in the U.S. Compared with non-strained smokers, slightly more quit attempts were made by financially strained smokers, with no greater likelihood to successfully quit. Chances to quit were less among low-income (less than 200% of the federal poverty level) smokers vs higher-income smokers, suggesting that financial strain alone may not explain the low quit rates in this population. In order to increase the success of quit attempts in low-income and financially strained smokers, further efforts are required.

• Analysis of longitudinal data on adult current smokers (aged ≥18 years) from Waves 1 and 2 of the nationally representative Population Assessment of Tobacco and Health Study (2013–2015) was carried out in 2017.
• Using negative binomial regression and logistic regression models, the link between financial strain and quit attempts and cigarette abstinence was assessed, adjusting for important confounders.

• More quit attempts were made by smokers with financial strain vs smokers without financial strain (adjusted incidence-rate ratio=1.34, 95% CI=1.07, 1.68), but financial strain was not shown to be associated with smoking abstinence at follow-up (AOR=0.86, 95% CI=0.70, 1.05).
• At follow-up, low income was shown to be related to less smoking abstinence (AOR=0.66, 95% CI=0.50, 0.87, for <100% federal poverty level; AOR=0.64, 95% CI=0.48, 0.85, for 100%–199% of federal poverty level).
• Lower odds of financial strain at follow-up were noted among smokers with baseline financial strain who quit at follow-up (AOR=0.57, 95% CI=0.36, 0.89).