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Randomized clinical trial of an Internet-based versus brief office intervention for adolescent smoking cessation
Christi A Patten1, Ivana T Croghan, Tracy M Meis
1Mayo Clinic College of Medicine, Department of Psychiatry & Psychology, Rochester, MN 55905, USA. patten.christi@mayo.edu
Objective:
Evaluation of novel treatment delivery methods, such as the Internet are notably absent from the adolescent smoking treatment literature.
Methods:
Adolescent smokers ages 11-18 years were randomized to a clinic-based, brief office intervention (BOI; N=69) consisting of four individual counseling sessions; or to Stomp Out Smokes (SOS), an Internet, home-based intervention (N=70). Adolescents in SOS had access to the SOS site for 24 weeks.
Results:
The 30-day, point-prevalence smoking abstinence rates for BOI and SOS were 12% versus 6% at week 24 and 13% versus 6% at week 36, with no significant treatment differences. Among participants who continued to smoke, SOS was associated with a significantly greater reduction in average number of days smoked than BOI (P=0.006). The BOI was found to be feasible with high session attendance rates. SOS participants accessed the site a mean+/-S.D. of 6.8+/-7.1 days. SOS use dropped to less than one-third of participants by week 3.
Conclusion:
Additional research is needed to tap the potential capabilities of the Internet for adolescent smoking cessation using proactive, personalized, patient-education components.
Practice Implications:
Augmenting the SOS type of intervention with more structured, personal and proactive patient-education components delivered in-person or by telephone or electronic mail is recommended.
