Learning Objectives: appreciate the reach and effectiveness of web assisted smoking cessation self help programs
Abstract: ABSTRACT
Problem/Objective: Smoking is the leading cause of death in the United States, yet 48 million (24%) Americans continue to smoke. Web-based interventions may have considerable potential to facilitate health behavior change. The objective of the present study is to review web-based cessation programs and report on the quit rates of an independently owned, evidence-based, free to consumer web-based smoking cessation program.
Methods: Cumulative Tobacco dependence and readiness to quit data from 4644 users of the Stop Smoking Center were analysed according to gender and place of residence.
Results: The majority of participants were American (67.45%) and 65.7% were women. On average, users were 37.1 years of age, smoked 21.8 cigarettes per day and had smoked for 18.9 years. The mean FTND scores were 5.77. Users had a median of 3 previous quit attempts and 43% had at least one co-resident smoker.
On September 30, 2002, 55% percent of users participating in the program were in contemplation, 16% were in the preparation stage, 9% were in the process of quitting, and 17% were in maintenance stage. 1238 set a quit date of which 67.04% were smoke free at 6 months, 22.7% reported a slip and 10.18% relapsed.
Conclusion: The results of this study suggest that the users of the web-based program are similar to the users of other smoking cessation programs. Limitations of the data collected are discussed. Further research is needed into the efficacy of web-based behavioral health interventions.
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