Notley, Caitlin and Gentry, Sarah and Livingstone-Banks, Jonathan and Bauld, Linda and Perera, Rafael and Conde, Monserrat and Hartmann-Boyce, Jamie (2025) Incentives for smoking cessation. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, (1), Art. no.: CD004307. DOI: 10.1002/14651858.CD004307.pub7.
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External website: https://www.cochranelibrary.com/cdsr/doi/10.1002/1...
Background: Smoking is the leading cause of disease and death worldwide. Most smokers want to quit, but stopping smoking can be very challenging. Quitting smoking can greatly improve people's health. Rewards, such as money or vouchers, can be used to encourage smokers to quit, and to reward them if they stay stopped. Such schemes can be run in workplaces, in clinics, and sometimes as community programmes.
Study types: We conducted our most recent search for studies in July 2018.
General trials: We found 33 trials, covering more than 21,600 people, that tested different rewards schemes to help smokers to quit. Two studies included smokers from mental health clinics, two from primary care clinics, two from head‐and‐neck cancer treatment clinics, two from colleges or universities, and one in Thai villages. Twenty‐four of the trials were run in the USA. All the trials followed up participants for at least six months. Those who had quit were checked by testing their breath or bodily fluids. Rewards were cash payments, vouchers, or the return of money deposited by those taking part.
Pregnancy trials: We looked at studies in pregnant women separately. We found ten trials, nine based in the USA and one in the UK, covering 2571 pregnant women who smoked. Rewards were vouchers that were sometimes increased in value, depending on how long the woman had managed to stay quit.
Key results:
General trials: Six months or more after the beginning of the trial, people receiving rewards were more likely to have stopped smoking than those in the control groups. Success rates continued beyond when the incentives had ended. Studies varied in the total amounts of rewards that were paid. There was no noticeable difference between trials paying smaller amounts (less than USD 100 (US dollars)) compared to those paying larger amounts (more than USD 700).
Pregnancy trials: Combining data from nine trials showed that women in the rewards groups were more likely to stop smoking than those in the control groups, both at the end of the pregnancy and after the birth of the baby.
Quality of the studies: Some of the studies did not provide enough data for us to fully assess their quality. Taking out the lowest‐quality trials from the analysis did not change the results. Our certainty in our main findings is high. Our certainty in our findings in pregnant women is moderate, as some studies were of lower quality.
E Concepts in biomedical areas > Pregnancy
HJ Treatment or recovery method > Substance disorder treatment method
HJ Treatment or recovery method > Substance disorder treatment method > Cessation of tobacco / nicotine use
HJ Treatment or recovery method > Psychosocial treatment method
L Social psychology and related concepts > Participation incentive / reward (contingency)
T Demographic characteristics > Pregnant woman
VA Geographic area > International
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Incentives for smoking cessation. (deposited 19 Dec 2011 16:00)
- Incentives for smoking cessation. (deposited 18 Aug 2025 09:26) [Currently Displayed]
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