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Alfredo Morabia, MD, PhD, Michael C. Costanza, PhD, Martine S. Bernstein, MD and Jean-Charles Rielle, MD

Alfredo Morabia, Michael C. Costanza, and Martine S. Bernstein are with the Division of Clinical Epidemiology, Geneva University Hospital, Geneva, Switzerland. Jean-Charles Rielle is with the Centre d'information prévention tabagisme (Centre for Information on Smoking Prevention), Geneva, Switzerland.

Correspondence: Requests for reprints should be sent to Alfredo Morabia, MD, PhD, Division of Clinical Epidemiology, Geneva University Hospital, 25 rue Micheli-du-Crest, CH-1211 Geneva 14, Switzerland (e-mail: morabia-alfredo{at}diogenes.hcuge.ch).

Objectives. This study sought to determine whether the age at initiation of regular cigarette smoking and the likelihood of quitting smoking through age 35 differ among women from younger versus older generations.

Methods. Annual population-based, random surveys (total of 3676 female residents of Geneva, Switzerland, aged 35–74 years) were conducted from 1992 to 1998.

Results. Women younger than 55 years were more likely to be past or current smokers, began smoking earlier (median age < 20 years), and smoked more cigarettes per day than older women, yet attempted to quit smoking more often before age 35 (log-rank P < .001).

Conclusions. Young female smokers have a higher propensity to quit smoking compared with older women. Encouraging young smokers to quit—in addition to preventing nonsmokers from starting—may be an important facet of reducing cigarette smoking prevalence among adolescents.

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