Table 8 Estimated lifetime prevalence of cessation attempts among adolescent smokers according to level of cigarette consumption* and period of adolescence.

Country, study year	Age/grade range	Definition of cessation	Prevalence (%) (95% CI)
Any use (in the past month)
Early to middle adolescence
Canada, 199437	Age 10–14	Ever tried to quit	57†
			84†‡
			35§
United States, 198975	Age 12–13	Ever made at least one serious attempt to quit smoking cigarettes	82 (77 to 87)||
Republic of Palau, 200168	Grade 6–8	Tried to stop smoking	69
Middle adolescence
United States, 198975	Age 14–15	Ever made at least one serious attempt to quit smoking cigarettes	77 (75 to 80)||
Early to late adolescence
Canada, 199437	Age 10–19	Ever tried to quit	72†
			82‡†
			47§†
United States, 198975	Age 12–18	Ever made at least one serious attempt to quit smoking cigarettes	74 (73 to 76)†||
Middle to late adolescence
Canada, 199437	Age 15–19	Ever tried to quit	79†
			81‡†
			68§
Republic of Palau, 200168	Grade 9–12	Tried to stop smoking	50
Late adolescence
United States, 1976–19792	High school seniors	Ever tried to stop smoking and found you could not	32
United States, 1980–19842	High school seniors	Ever tried to stop smoking and found you could not	31
United States, 1985–19892	High school seniors	Ever tried to stop smoking and found you could not	28
United States, 198975	Age 16–18	Ever made at least one serious attempt to quit smoking cigarettes	73 (71 to 74)||
Daily use (self‐declared current)
Middle to late adolescence
Denmark, 1996–199732	Age 15–20	Ever tried to quit smoking	64¶
Daily use (in the past week)
Early to middle adolescence
Canada, 200270	Grade 5–9	Ever tried to quit	77
Daily use (in the past month)
Early to middle adolescence
Canada, 199437	Age 10–14	Ever tried to quit	84‡
Early to late adolescence
Canada, 199437	Age 10–19	Ever tried to quit	81‡†
Middle to late adolescence
Canada, 199437	Age 15–19	Ever tried to quit	80‡
Late adolescence
United States, 1976–19792	High school seniors	Ever tried to stop smoking and found you could not	39**
United States, 1980–19842	High school seniors	Ever tried to stop smoking and found you could not	42**
United States, 1985–19892	High school seniors	Ever tried to stop smoking and found you could not	39**
Non‐daily use (in the past month)
Early to middle adolescence
Canada, 199437	Age 10–14	Ever tried to quit	84‡
Early to late adolescence
Canada, 199437	Age 10–19	Ever tried to quit	84‡†
Middle to late adolescence
Canada, 199437	Age 15–19	Ever tried to quit	83‡

*Any use in the past month was defined operationally as “smoked ⩾1 cigarette in the past 30 days”, except by the US Department of Health² where it was defined as “smoked at all in the past 30 days ”; daily use (self‐declared current) was defined operationally as: “smoke every day”; daily use in the past week was defined operationally as: “smoked cigarettes on each of the 7 days preceding data collection”; daily use in the past month was defined operationally as: “smoked⩾1 cigarette each day in the past 30 days”; non‐daily use in the past month was defined operationally as: “smoked ⩾1 cigarette in the past 30 days, but not daily”.

†Excluded from the calculation of summary estimate because complete stratum‐specific estimates were available for this study.

‡Estimated among the subgroup of adolescents who had smoked ⩾100 cigarettes in their lifetime.

§Estimated among the subgroup of adolescents who had smoked <100 cigarettes in their lifetime.

||Two reports⁷⁴,⁷⁵ were based on the 1989 US Teenage Attitudes and Practices Survey. When estimates for duplicate age and/or smoking history strata were available, only Moss et al⁷⁵ was considered in the calculation of summary estimates. Estimates of the lifetime prevalence of cessation attempts among adolescents reporting any use in the past month for duplicate age strata as reported by Allen et al⁷⁴ were as follows: 86 among 12–18 year olds; 92 among 12–13 year olds; 87 among 14–15 year olds; 85 among 16–18 year olds.

¶This estimate excluded students who reported physician‐diagnosed asthma.

**Excluded from the calculation of summary estimates because a more inclusive aggregate estimate is available for this study.