Women's initiative for nonsmoking (WINS) I: design and methods

This article describes the design and methods of the Women's Initiative for Nonsmoking, a nurse-managed intervention for smoking cessation and relapse prevention in women hospitalized with cardiovascular disease. The Women's Initiative for Nonsmoking is a randomized clinical trial with a 3-month intervention period and follow-up at 6, 12, 24, and 30 months. Data were collected at 10 urban hospitals in the San Francisco Bay area. The sample consisted of 278 women, mean age 61 years, hospitalized with cardiovascular disease (angina, myocardial infarction, angioplasty, coronary artery bypass graft surgery, heart failure, valvular disease, peripheral vascular disease, and cerebrovascular disease). The behavioral intervention consisted of nurse-managed care focused on preventing relapse after smoking cessation during hospitalization. Measures included demographic, clinical (includes diagnosis and comorbidity data), smoking history, confidence questionnaire, stress, depression, and quality of life. This article provides a detailed description of research design and methods for researchers desiring to replicate the study and nurse practitioners developing a smoking cessation, risk-reduction program in the clinical setting. Results of the trial are forthcoming.