Using radon risk to motivate smoking reduction: evaluation of written materials and brief telephone counselling

Objective-Radon and cigarette smoking have synergistic effects on lung canc er, even when radon concentrations are relatively low. Working through an e lectric utility company, we sought to reach smoking households with low rad on concentrations and motivate smoking cessation or prohibiting smoking in the home. Design-Eligible homes (n = 714) were randomised to receive: (1) the Environ mental Protection Agency's (EPA's) ((A citizen's guide to radon)); (2) a sp ecially developed pamphlet; or (3) that pamphlet plus brief telephone couns elling. Procedure-Utility company "bill stuffers" offered free radon test kits to s moking households. All households received radon test results with an expla natory cover letter. Both the specially developed pamphlet and the telephon e counselling emphasised that smoking cessation or prohibiting smoking in t he home were the optimal risk reduction strategies. Households were followe d up at 3 and 12 months after receiving materials. Results-The specially developed pamphlet and the EPA guide yielded similar outcomes. There was a non-significant trend for telephone counselling to pr oduce greater sustained quitting than the specially developed pamphlet, and phone counselling led to significantly more new household smoking bans. Conclusions-Working through a public utility company is an efficient way to reach smoking households, and brief telephone counselling is a promising m ethod for promoting household smoking bans and cessation in homes alerted t o the risk posed by the combination of radon and smoking.