A Culturally Adapted Smoking Cessation Intervention for Korean Americans: Preliminary Findings

Korean Americans have the highest smoking rate within the Asian American population. This study examined the feasibility and acceptability of a culturally adapted telephone cessation intervention for Korean Americans. Participants were recruited from advertisements on a Korean radio station channel in New York City. All received a combination of telephone cessation counseling and nicotine patches. Thirty-one (2 women and 29 men) participated in the study. At 3-month follow-up, 14 (45.2%) reported 7-day point prevalence abstinence and 13 (41.9%) achieved 3-month prolonged abstinence. Except for two who lived alone, self-reported abstinence was corroborated by a family member. The findings point to the direction that a nationally centralized Korean-language quitline service should be established to help Korean Americans quit smoking. Furthermore, the service should be adapted at a deep level of the culture.