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CENTURY
Yale University
School of Medicine
SAC-203
Connecticut
Mental Health Center
34 Park Street
New Haven, CT 06519

Phone:
203-974-7591

Fax:
203-974-7606

E-mail:
infocentury@yale.edu

CENTURY/TTURC Press Release

Smokers who quit reduce absences from work, but only over the long run, says new Yale study

Smokers who quit reduce their absences from work over time, but in the short run experience an increase in absences, according to a new research paper from Yale. Researchers said the short-term increase in absences are consistent with the reality that quitting smoking is an arduous process and that withdrawal can be difficult to manage.

These findings suggest that it might be worthwhile for employers, insurers and government programs to invest in high quality smoking cessation programs to help offset the short term effects of quitting. Providing such help would allow companies to reap the benefits of as smokers who quit to reduce their absences over time, the study says.

The study, which was published in the April issue of Tobacco Control, examined the effect of smoking and quitting on absences from work. The Tobacco Use Supplements of the federal Current Population Surveys were the source of the data for the study. The study sample was 384,000 full time workers between the ages of 18 and 64. The study showed that absences spike immediately after a smoker quits and remain elevated for about three months. The benefits of quitting start to become apparent after about a year. After five years, the difference in absences become significant, Dr. Sindelar said. That some quit attempts are prompted by ill health might account for some of the increase, Dr. Sindelar continued.

"In the long run, absences decline after quitting, which would benefit both the firm and worker," said Dr. Jody Sindelar, a professor in the division of Health Policy & Administration in the Yale School of Public Health. "But the reality is that most smokers quit without any help. Providing such help could be the key to allowing workplaces to benefit from their employees' efforts to quit." Dr. Sindelar, who also is a principal investigator with the Yale Transdisciplinary Tobacco Use Research Center (TTURC), said that a comprehensive cost benefit analysis of specific cessation programs as they relate to worker productivity, health and quit attempts would help to quantify how companies might benefit from workers quitting smoking.

Dr. Sindelar said. " We were expecting reductions in absences to occur very rapidly and had not anticipated the immediate increases in absences. Employees who want to quit need the support of their employers, health care providers and insurers while they are quitting. The companies will eventually benefit in terms of increased days at work."

The full citation for the article is: Sindelar, J.L., Duchovny, N., Falba, T.A., Busch, S.H.(2005) If smoking increases absences, does quitting reduce them? Tobacco Control.14:99-105.