Chest
Original ResearchSmoking Cessation“Real-World” Effectiveness of Reactive Telephone Counseling for Smoking Cessation: A Randomized Controlled Trial
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Design Overview
A randomized controlled trial was implemented comprising 990 new callers, all adult current smokers, who called a reactive telephone helpline run by the American Lung Association chapter of Illinois-Iowa during the period January 2003 to December 2005. Eligible subjects were randomized on their first call (prior to offering counseling) into one of the following two groups: a control group that received only self-help literature by mail; and a study group that received supplemental live reactive
Subject Characteristics
Of the 999 eligible subjects who were screened, 990 subjects were randomized into one of the following two groups: a control group that received only self-help literature by mail (n = 496); and a study group that received supplemental live reactive telephone counseling (n = 494). Seven hundred twenty-two subjects (72.9%), 707 subjects (71.4%), 611 subjects (61.7%), and 521 subjects (52.6%), respectively, completed follow-up at 1, 3, 6, and 12 months (Fig 1).
The study and control groups did not
Discussion
This randomized controlled trial demonstrates that the combination of live reactive telephone counseling and self-help educational material does not provide greater success in smoking cessation than self-help educational materials alone. The abstinence rates in this study (range, 0.09 to 0.15) were comparable to those described in the literature for other self-help approaches in quitting smoking (0.14; 95% CI, 0.13 to 0.16).29 In addition, we noted that black callers had significantly lower
Acknowledgments
Author contributions: Drs. Sood and Verhulst contributed to the conception and design, data analysis and interpretation, drafting of the manuscript, statistical analysis, the obtaining of funding, and supervision. Ms. Andoh contributed to data analysis and interpretation, and statistical analysis. Ms. Ganesh and Ms. Edson were involved with data acquisition; critical revision of the manuscript for important intellectual content; and administrative technical, or material support. Dr.
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Funding/Support: This study was supported by American Lung Association grant CG-870-N. Dr. Sood was also supported by the University of New Mexico Clinical Translational Science Center Scholar Award and Department of Health and Human Services/National Institutes of Health/National Center for Research Resources/General Clinical Research Center grant No. 5M01 RR00997.
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