Accident rates found to increase when people suddenly stop smoking

Quitting smoking cold turkey causes a quick drop in nicotine that may lead people to have more accidents, according to a study in the journal Nature (Vol. 394, No. 6639, p. 137).

It?s long been known that a few hours after people quit, they face nicotine withdrawal and, as measured in laboratory settings, their mood and cognitive skills deteriorate. Now, two British researchers find that these psychological deficits may have real-world consequences. They examined nonfatal workplace accident rates on the day of the United Kingdom?s equivalent of the Great American Smokeout?No Smoking Day?which has occurred on the second Wednesday in March since 1984.

The accident rate on No Smoking Day was significantly higher compared to accident rates on the Wednesday before and the Wednesday after, the researchers found?575.8 compared to 553.4 and 519.1. And there were no other significant differences between other days of the same weeks.

The results shouldn?t discourage people from quitting smoking, write study authors Andrew Waters, of London?s National Addiction Centre and Martin Jarvis and Stephen Sutton of University College, London. However, they suggest that wider use of nicotine replacement might help prevent deleterious effects of nicotine withdrawal.

They also encourage other researchers to test their findings with data sets, such as traffic accidents during the Great American Smokeout.

?B. Azar