Logo image
Back
Changes in health care costs before and after smoking cessation
Journal article   Open access   Peer reviewed

Changes in health care costs before and after smoking cessation

Paul A Fishman, Ella E Thompson, Elizabeth Merikle and Susan J Curry
Nicotine & tobacco research, Vol.8(3), pp.393-401
06/01/2006
DOI: 10.1080/14622200600670314
PMID: 16801297
url
https://doi.org/10.1080/14622200600670314View
Published (Version of record) Open Access

Abstract

Previous research on health care costs among former smokers suggests that quitters incur greater health care costs for up to 4 years after cessation compared with continuing smokers. However, little is known about the relationship between health care costs and utilization in the periods before as well as after cessation. The present study used a retrospective cohort design with automated health plan and primary data to examine the health care costs and clinical experiences before and after smoking cessation among former smokers compared with a sample of continuing smokers. Subjects were a random sample of adults (aged 25 and older) whose smoking status was identified by a physician during a primary care visit to the Group Health Cooperative (GHC), a nonprofit, integrated health care delivery system in western Washington state. Total direct health care costs among former smokers began to rise in the quarter prior to cessation and were significantly greater (p < .001) than those of continuing smokers in the quarter immediately following cessation. This difference dissipated within one quarter following cessation. We replicated the postquit cost spike among former smokers found by other research and showed that this spike dissipated within the first year postquit. Smoking cessation did not result in sustained cost increases among former smokers.

Details

Metrics

8 Record Views
45 Times Cited - Web of Science
Logo image