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(Ivanhoe Newswire) -- Thanks to public health campaigns, over the last 30 years, the number of smokers in the United States has fallen; but new research shows quitting smoking may require you to hold on to at least one pack.
In a study spanning 32 years, researchers discovered people are more likely to quit smoking as part of a group -- not as individuals. Using a social network of 12,067 individuals, researchers analyzed the quitting patterns of spouses, siblings, friends and coworkers. In addition to the influence between two individuals, like spouses, they found that groups of people who may or may not know each other quit smoking at the same time.
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Weve found that when you analyze large social networks, entire pockets of people who might not know each other all quit smoking at once, Nicholas Christakis, M.D., Ph.D., study author and a professor in Harvard Medical Schools Department of Health Care Policy, was quoted as saying.
Researchers found that participants were more influenced to quit by highly educated people. Ironically, they also found the more educated a person is, the more influenced they are by others to quit. In addition, the study revealed smokers are becoming social outcasts.
Contrary to what we might have thought in school, smoking has become a supremely bad strategy for getting popular, James Fowler, Ph.D., study author and a researcher at the University of California at San Diego, was quoted as saying.
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SOURCE: The New England Journal of Medicine, 2008;358:2249-2258
This article was reported by Ivanhoe.com, who offers Medical Alerts by e-mail every day of the week. To subscribe, go to: http://www.ivanhoe.com/newsalert/.
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