Descriptive outcomes of the American Lung Association of Ohio hypnotherapy smoking cessation program

Hypnosis smoking cessation treatment is one type of program available to smokers. This paper describes a large randomly selected sample from such a program, which has not been previously reported. During 1997, 2,810 smokers participated in single-session, group hypnotherapy smoking cessation programs sponsored by the American Lung Association of Ohio. A randomly selected sample of 452 participants completed telephone interviews 5 to 15 months after attending a treatment session. Twenty-two percent of participants (n = 101) reported not smoking during the month prior to the interview. Use of other smoking cessation strategies since the treatment session were assessed. Interestingly, only 20% of participants who used pharmaceutical products to assist with smoking cessation took them for the recommended treatment duration. Hypnotherapy smoking cessation treatment offers an alternative cessation method, which may meet the unique needs of certain individuals.