A community-wide smoking cessation program: Quit and win 1998 in Olmsted County

Background. Quit and Win is a community-wide stop smoking contest to help c igarette smokers stop smoking and educate the general public concerning smo king hazards. Methods. All community residents, 15 years of age or older, were eligible t o participate in either the stop smoking contest or the supporter contest. A random telephone survey to local households was conducted before and afte r the Quit and Win contest to assess the level of knowledge and attitude ch anges about smoking. Results. Of the 304 smokers enrolled in the contest, 42% self-reported cont inuous tobacco abstinence for the 4-week contest period and 11% were abstin ent at I year postcontest. Significant predictors for tobacco abstinence du ring the contest were formal education beyond high school, absence of other smokers in the household, having a support person enrolled in the support person contest, and the type of relationship that the support person had wi th their smoker. Survey results showed that this contest changed some local attitudes and increased general knowledge of smoking hazards. Conclusions. Community-wide stop smoking contests can be used to engage smo kers and their support in the community and can be successful in reducing t obacco use. (C) 2001 American Health Foundation and Academic Press.