Characteristics and quitting success of roll-your-own versus tailor-made cigarette smokers

Roll-your-own (RYO) tobacco use is exceptionally high in New Zealand with 61% of current smokers using it exclusively or in conjunction with tailor-made (TM) cigarettes. This study examines the characteristics of RYO users and their likelihood of quitting smoking compared to TM and mixed tobacco users.

A random sample of Quitline callers with a booster sample of Māori, was invited to participate in a telephone survey three times within a 12-month period. The response rates for the first survey were 57% for Māori and 63% for non-Māori, resulting in a total of 2002 participants. Among these participants, 64% completed the 6-month follow-up and 42% completed the entire study. Two participants were excluded from this analysis as they smoked neither RYO nor TM. We compared the eligible participants' characteristics and quitting outcomes by tobacco type. Quit status was assessed by 7-day abstinence at 6- and 12-month and we used a conservative approach to treat missing cases.

RYO use was common among particular smokers such as Māori, male, and low socioeconomic status subjects. When sociodemographic and smoking variables were controlled for using a logistic regression model, quit rates were not different by tobacco type.

This study confirms the different characteristics of RYO, TM and mixed tobacco users, and fills a gap of limited research about quitting success of RYO smokers.