If the threat of health complications isn’t enough to get someone to quit smoking, money could be the short-term push they need instead.
A study conducted by Swiss researchers found that continued payments to poor smokers helped more than one-third of them kick the habit, according to a report by the Tribune.
The study included 805 low-income smokers who wanted to quit and then were randomly assigned to either be paid or not paid to quit.
Three months after the study started, 44 percent of smokers who received payments had abstained from smoking compared to only 6 percent of people who hadn’t received money. After six months, 36 percent were still holding strong against 6 percent, again.
Eighteen months out, the results drop off a bit, with only 10 percent of the paid group still abstaining compared to only 4 percent of the not-paid group.
So if you want to quit, you better buck up and do it yourself. Even if you can find somebody dumb enough to throw cash at you to make you quit, it might not even be enough.
@shelbielbostedt | sbostedt@redeyechicago.com
