Frequency and type of use of a home-based, Internet intervention for adolescent smoking cessation

The Internet offers a potential medium for delivering smoking cessation treatment to adolescents. However, few Internet-based cessation programs for adolescents have been evaluated. We describe adolescent use of a home-based Internet intervention to stop smoking (Stomp Out Smokes [SOS]) and explore baseline characteristics associated with SOS use.

Participants were 70 adolescent smokers aged 12-18 years (50% female, 90% Caucasian) randomized to receive the SOS intervention for 24 weeks as part of a larger clinical trial. SOS comprised 40 components, of which eight were primarily interactive (e.g., discussion support group, ask an expert, quit plan) and 32 were primarily informational (e.g., managing withdrawal, medications to stop smoking). SOS use data were captured electronically, including total logins to the site, and type of SOS components used defined by page hits on the interactive and information components.

A total of 7,708 SOS website pages (6825 interactive and 883 informational) were accessed over the 24 weeks. The highest proportion of page hits was for the discussion support group (35%) and quit plan (30%). Interactive pages were significantly more likely to be used than informational pages (median 65 vs. 6, p < .001). Males accessed fewer interactive pages compared with females (p = .04). No other baseline characteristics were univariately associated with total logins or use of informational or interactive pages.

Adolescent smokers most often used a discussion support group and other interactive Internet-based cessation components. Future studies designed to increase adolescent use, and efficacy of, Internet-based cessation programs are warranted.