The purpose of this study was to examine the effectiveness of different practice-based approaches to assist patients of primary care physicians to quit smoking and sustain cessation. Forty-four nonsmoking general practitioners volunteered for the study. After a period of training, they randomized 923 smoking clients, unselected for motivation toward quitting, to four different intervention groups: (i) minimal intervention, consisting of one single counselling session and a brief handout on quitting techniques; (ii) repeated counselling including reinforcing sessions at Months 1, 3, 6, and 9; (iii) repeated counselling and use of nicotine gum; and (iv) repeated counselling and spirometry. Biochemically validated smoking status was assessed at six and 12 months after recruitment. The proportion of verified quitters at 12 months was 4.8 percent among subjects randomized to the minimal intervention group, compared to 5.5 percent, 7.5 percent, and 6.5 percent among those randomized to the three repeated-counselling groups. In no treatment group was the outcome significantly different from that for one-time counselling at the (P<0.05) level. Lack of power, contamination, and low attendance at reinforcing sessions should be taken into account in interpreting the results.
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Additional information
Drs Segnan, Ponti, Senore, and Rosso, and Ms Aimar are with the Epidemiology Unit, USL TORINO I, via S. Francesco da Paola 31, 10123 Torino, Italy. Dr Battista is in the Departments of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, of Family Medicine, and of Medicine, McGill University and the Division of Clinical Epidemiology, Department of Medicine, Montreal General Hospital. Dr Shapiro is in the Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Address corrrespondence to Dr N. Segnan. This study was financed by a Health Education grant from the Piedmont Health Authority (Adm. Act 4195/41/86). Dr Battista is a Research Scholar of the National Health Research and Development Program, Ottawa, Canada.
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Segnan, N., Ponti, A., Battista, R.N. et al. A randomized trial of smoking cessation interventions in general practice in Italy. Cancer Causes Control 2, 239–246 (1991). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00052140
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00052140