Comparing Computer-Tailored, Internet-Based Smoking Cessation Counseling Reports with Generic, Untailored Reports: A Randomized Trial

Abstract

To assess and compare the impact on quit attempts of online computer-tailored smoking cessation counseling reports and untailored reports, we performed a randomized controlled trial on a smoking cessation website in 2007–2008. After answering a questionnaire, current and former smokers were randomly assigned to immediately receiving either an online, individually tailored counseling report or a personalized but untailored generic report. Participants were invited by e-mail to report any smoking in the previous 24 hours, 48 hours after baseline. We used an intention-to-treat analysis, where nonrespondents at follow-up were counted as smokers. There were 2,872 participants at baseline and 2,226 at follow-up (78%). At baseline, there were 76% of current smokers (mean = 18 cigarettes/day) and 24% of recent quitters (median = 7 days of abstinence). The same proportion of smokers in both study groups had made a 24-hour quit attempt at follow-up (12.1%, P = 1.0). In baseline recent quitters, lapse/relapse rates at follow-up were similar in both groups (tailored: 25.1%, untailored: 23.5%, P = 0.64). We conclude that untailored reports were as effective as tailored reports in the short term. Even though these particular computer-tailored reports were not more effective than untailored reports, meta-analyses show that computer-tailored documents are in general more effective than untailored ones.

Vincent Baujard (informatics engineer), at the Health on the Net (HON) Foundation, Geneva, Switzerland, developed the software that produces the counseling reports and managed the data collection.

Development of the Stop-tabac.ch website and data collection were funded by the Health Department of the Canton of Geneva; the Swiss Federal Office of Public Health [Berne]; and the Swiss Cancer League [Berne], all of Switzerland.

The author developed the program presented in this study as part of his work at the University of Geneva, Switzerland. This program is available at no charge to smokers. The author has no financial or commercial interest in this program. The Institute of Social and Preventive Medicine, University of Geneva, Switzerland, received support from Pfizer and Novartis, both producers of smoking cessation medications, to develop and implement other online smoking cessation programs under the supervision of the author, but the program tested in this study was not supported by pharmaceutical companies. The author obtained no personal financial benefit from these industry-sponsored programs.