The effectiveness of callback counselling for smoking cessation: a randomized trial

Aims. The development of acceptable, widely available and effective smoking cessation methods is central to public health strategy for tobacco control . We examined the effectiveness of a telephone callback counselling interve ntion, compared to the provision of self-help resources alone. Methods. Par ticipants were 998 smokers calling a state-wide "Quitline" service randomly allocated to either callback counselling or ordinary care. The callback co ndition consisted of a series of brief counselling calls at strategic times in addition to ordinary care. The number of calls varied according to call er needs, and most occurred generally just before the person's quit day and in the week or two after it. The service was delivered by trained telephon e counsellors. Results. At the 3-month follow-up, significantly more partic ipants in the callback group (24%) reported that they were quit, compared t o those in the usual care comparison group (13%). The difference in point p revalence of smoking declined to 6% by the 12-month follow-up. Using sustai ned abstinence there was a significant benefit of callback counselling at 1 2-month follow-up. Treating dropouts as smokers reduced the overall magnitu de of the effects somewhat. The benefit of callbacks was to marginally incr ease quit attempts and to significantly reduce relapse. Conclusion. Our fin dings are consistent with those of other studies demonstrating benefits of callback telephone counselling to facilitate cessation. Such counselling pr ovides a flexible, relatively inexpensive and widely available form of cess ation service. It appears to encourage a greater proportion of quit attempt s and to reduce the rate of relapse among those quitting. Further research is required to determine ways to enhance effectiveness, particularly studie s of how to reduce relapse.