Le. Carlson et al., Eight-year follow-up of a community-based large group behavioral smoking cessation intervention, ADDICT BEHA, 25(5), 2000, pp. 725-741
Objective: To evaluate the effectiveness of a large group community-based b
ehavioral smoking cessation intervention over an S-year follow-up period an
d to determine precessation predictors of cessation at each follow-up time.
Research Approach: Behavioral intervention followed by three longitudinal
follow-up interviews. Setting: Regional Outpatient Cancer Centre. Study Par
ticipants: 971 participants in smoking cessation clinics held be tween 1986
and 1990. Intervention: Eight 90-minute sessions over 4 months utilizing e
ducation. self-monitoring, nicotine fading, a group quit date and behaviora
l modification techniques. Up to 110 smokers participated in each group pro
gram. Main Outcome Measures: Cessation rates at 3, 6, and 12 months postqui
t and at 8-year follow-up. Differences between successful and unsuccessful
participants in precessation demographic, smoking history, and smoking beha
vior variables. Results: At 3 months postquit date, 39.3% of the 971 partic
ipants reported that they were not smoking, decreasing to 32.1% at 6 months
and 26.0% at 12 months. At the 8-year follow-up, 33.9% of the original sam
ple were contacted, and of those, 47.7% reported that they were currently n
ot smoking. There were nine predictors of cessation at the end of the progr
am (3 months), which were similar to those previously reported in the liter
ature. Similarly, at 6 and 12 months, six factors were associated with not
smoking. At the 9-year follow-up the only variable predictive of continued
abstinence was being female (p < .05). Conclusions: This program was succes
sful in promoting smoking cessation and maintenance, even with its large-gr
oup format. Predictive factors were similar to those previously reported in
the literature. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science Ltd.