What does quitting give back at my age?
Put in your age to see how many years people who quit at that age gained over people who kept smoking.
The studies
Prabhat Jha's team linked the smoking histories of 202,248 American adults, interviewed between 1997 and 2004, to deaths up to the end of 2006. Smokers died at about three times the rate of people who never smoked, and lost more than 10 years. People who quit gained most of it back.
| Quit at | Years gained over people who kept smoking | Study |
|---|---|---|
| 25 to 34 | About 10 | Jha 2013, US adults |
| 35 to 44 | About 9 | Jha 2013, US adults |
| 45 to 54 | About 6 | Jha 2013, US adults |
| 60 | About 3 | Doll 2004, British male doctors |
Richard Doll and Richard Peto followed 34,439 British doctors from 1951 to 2001. Those who quit at 60, 50, 40 or 30 gained about 3, 6, 9 or 10 years, which lines up with the American numbers 50 years later. Quitting at 50 halved the extra risk, and quitting at 30 avoided almost all of it.
Jha's team found that quitting before 40 took away about 90% of the extra risk of dying from smoking. The years shrink the later you quit, and they're still there at 60.
What your result means and what to do next
Your number is the average years that people who quit at your age gained over people who kept smoking. It's the same idea as a refund that shrinks each year you wait, so the best quit date is the nearest one you can keep.
Pick a date in the next two weeks and tell the people around you. Call 1-800-QUIT-NOW (1-800-784-8669) for free coaching and a quit plan, and a coach can help you get quit medicines through your insurer or a community program. If you slip, set a new date. When it holds, pick a second step from the simple plan.
3 sources
- Jha P and others, 21st-century hazards of smoking and benefits of cessation in the United States, NEJM 2013pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
- Doll R and others, Mortality in relation to smoking: 50 years observations on male British doctors, BMJ 2004pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
- CDC, Quitlinescdc.gov
