Predicting abstainers in a smoking cessation programme administered by general practitioners.

Pre-treatment characteristics which predicted successful outcome in one hundred cigarette smokers participating in a general practitioner administered smoking cessation programme were identified. Successful outcome was assessed using three types of criteria: quit smoking by the end of treatment, remained abstinent for six months and remained abstinent for three years. Seventeen pre-treatment variables predicted immediate response to treatment, but this decreased to six variables for six months sustained abstinence and to only one variable (smoking when ill in bed) for three years sustained abstinence. Low cigarette dependence, no smoking related health problems, and a non-smoking social environment characterized subjects most likely to have stopped smoking at the end of treatment and to have remained abstinent for six months.