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Home / American Journal of Health Behavior, Volume 28, Number 3

Telephone Counseling for Population-based Smoking Cessation

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Objectives: To examine the options for use, efficiency, and effectiveness for structuring a population-based telephone smoking-cessation service. Methods: Callers (n=632) to a 1–800 number were randomized in a 2 (50-minute counseling with 2/6 calls) x 2 (pamphlet/booklet) design with print only control. Results: Six-month use of the service was 0.6% of adult smokers. Service promotion cost $31.02/person. Telephone counseling resulted in higher continued abstinence (5%) than did print only (1%), P<.05. Amount of print and calls did not increase cessation. Six calls resulted in lower completion rates than 2 (22% vs 56%, P<.05). Conclusions: For planning, consider 1% use, low-cost promotion, pamphlet, 50-minute initial counseling plus 2 follow-ups, and minimize call-attempts.

Keywords: cessation; counseling methods; population-based; smoking; telephone

Document Type: Research Article

Affiliations: 1: Department of Health Studies and Gerontology, the Canadian Cancer Society/National Cancer Institute of Canada Centre for Behavioural Research and Program Evaluation, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, ON, Canada 2: Department of Health Studies and Gerontology, and Director, the Canadian Cancer Society/National Cancer Institute of Canada Centre for Behavioural Research and Program Evaluation, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, ON, Canada 3: Department of Health Studies and Gerontology, Co-Director, Health Behaviour Research Group, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, ON, Canada 4: Health Behaviour Research Group, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, ON, Canada 5: Professor, Department of Statistics and Actuarial Science, Co-Director, Health Behaviour Research Group, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, ON, Canada

Publication date: 01 May 2004

More about this publication?

  • The American Journal of Health Behavior seeks to improve the quality of life through multidisciplinary health efforts in fostering a better understanding of the multidimensional nature of both individuals and social systems as they relate to health behaviors.

    The Journal aims to provide a comprehensive understanding of the impact of personal attributes, personality characteristics, behavior patterns, social structure, and processes on health maintenance, health restoration, and health improvement; to disseminate knowledge of holistic, multidisciplinary approaches to designing and implementing effective health programs; and to showcase health behavior analysis skills that have been proven to affect health improvement and recovery.

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