Feasibility and effectiveness of a stages-of-change model in cigarette smoking cessation counseling

Counseling coupled with a stages-of-change model in cigarette smoking cessation is a useful method for physicians to help patients stop smoking. The participants were 27 physicians, randomly assigned to three groups of nine physicians each. The first group of physicians were given two lectures on the stages-of-change model on which to base their patient counseling. The second group of physicians were not exposed to the model but a reminder reading "Ask your patients to stop smoking" was placed in their clinic. The third group of physicians were neither exposed to the model nor given any reminder. Of the 93 smokers among the patients of the 27 physicians, 39 were in the first group, 26 in the second, and 28 in the third. A survey indicated that among the three groups there was no significant difference in demographic data, cigarette smoking history, and personal attitude toward smoking cessation counseling. At the end of six months, the first group of patients accomplished a quit smoking rate of 28.6%; of the patients still smoking 56% had decreased their daily cigarette consumption. The corresponding figures for the second group were 8.3% and 9.1%. The corresponding figures for the third group were 4.3% and 13.6%. These data show that counseling coupled with the concept of a stages-of-change model is feasible and effective to assist with cigarette smoking cessation.