Predictors of smoking cessation in a sample of Italian smokers

In this study we identify several pretreatment characteristics which predict abstinence at 6 months. Moreover, the persistence of withdrawal discomfort and of an increased frequency of night awakenings during the first month of abstinence, together with a tendency to "slip" during Weeks II-IV, strongly predicted relapse. Our results suggest that: 1) Predictors of outcome cannot be automatically extended from one cultural context to another; 2) a careful assessment of certain variables, made while the patient is still under treatment, provides significant prognostic hints; 3) ex-smokers' sleeping and dreaming function has been ignored by the literature, whereas they may well be involved into the maintenance of the drug-free state.