Evaluation of a mass media community smoking cessation campaign

The effectiveness of a smoking cessation campaign that included both printed and televised materials was evaluated in registrant and randomly acquired samples of smokers during the first month postcampaign and again at 3 months. Registrant and random samples differed on several sociodemographic variables. Registrants had much higher rates of abstinence at both times compared to the randomly acquired group. Nicotine gum replacement was used more frequently among the registrant group. Fifteen percent of registrants who had not attempted to quit at Time 1 were abstinent 3 months postcampaign. Registering to participate in print and televised cessation programs may be related to a change in smoking behavior.