Effect of a community action program on adult quit smoking rates in rural Australian towns: The CART project

Background. This article describes one outcome of a randomized controlled t rial of community action for cancer prevention. The aims of this article we re to (a) explore the effectiveness of a community action program in decrea sing community smoking rates in rural Australian towns and Cb) describe the relationship between adult smoking quit and uptake rates and demographic v ariables. Methods. In 1992, 20 towns were selected for randomization. Community actio n involved formation of community committees and utilization of access poin t networks to initiate and maintain intervention strategies. At post-test, outcomes were proportion of "quitters" from a cohort of self-described smok ers, proportion of "uptakers" from a cohort of self-described nonsmokers, a nd "net effect." Results. Differences in quit rate, uptake rate, and net effect for interven tion compared to control condition favored the intervention in all cases, a lthough mainly nonsignificant. Significantly more male smokers quit in inte rvention towns than in control towns [7.0% (95% CI: 0.6, 13.5)]. Conclusions. Given that CART utilized and improved upon strategies argued a s effective in the literature, the limited success of the project in reduci ng adult smoking, considered in combination with COMMIT findings, suggests the need for further innovation in the field. (C) 2001 American Health Foun dation and Academic Press.