• Pei-Ching Chen, Raymond Nien-Chen Kuo, Chih-Kuan Lai, Shih-Tzu Tsai, and Yue-Chune Lee.
• Institute of Health and Welfare Policy, College of Medicine, National Yang-Ming University, Taipei, Taiwan Department of Health and Welfare, School of Metropolitan Governance, University of Taipei, Taipei, Taiwan.
• BMJ Open. 2015 Jan 1; 5 (5): e007249.

ObjectiveTo assess the relationship between smoking status and health-related quality of life 1 year after participation in a smoking cessation programme in Taiwan.DesignA cohort study of smokers who voluntarily participated in a smoking cessation programme with two follow-up assessments of smoking status via telephone interview, conducted 6 months and 1 year after finishing the smoking cessation programme.SettingHospitals and clinics providing smoking cessation services.ParticipantsA total of 3514 participants completed both telephone interviews, which represents a response rate of 64%. After the interviews, participants were divided into four groups according to their smoking status: (1) long-term quitters: participants who had quit tobacco use for 1 year; (2) short-term quitters: participants who had been smoking for at least 6 months and then quit tobacco for 6 months after participating in the programme; (3) relapsed smokers: participants who relapsed into tobacco use after ceasing tobacco use for 6 months; and (4) continuing smokers: participants who failed to quit smoking for at least 1 year, despite participating in the programme.InterventionsThe Outpatient Smoking Cessation Service of Taiwan provides counselling and pharmacotherapy to individuals seeking to quit smoking.Primary OutcomesThe health-related quality of life of the participants was measured using an approved Chinese version of the EuroQol-5D-3L (EQ-5D-3L) descriptive system.ResultsAfter controlling for sex, age, education, marital status, job status, monthly income and disease status at baseline, our results revealed that long-term (OR=0.61 (0.48 to 0.77)) and short-term (OR=0.65 (0.54 to 0.79)) quitters experienced less anxiety and depression than did continuing smokers.ConclusionsOur study provides evidence to support claims that all quitters, regardless of whether they stop smoking for 6 months or 1 year, have better quality of life with regard to anxiety or depression.Published by the BMJ Publishing Group Limited. For permission to use (where not already granted under a licence) please go to http://group.bmj.com/group/rights-licensing/permissions.

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