Efficacy of individual smoking cessation instructions for general smokers among clients of a health center

: Smoking cessation instruction for individuals using a standardized smoking cessation manual and a handout developed by the authors was studied in a controlled trial among employees who visited a health center for Industrial Safety and Health Law mandated annual health examinations. Smokers in the study group were given 5-10 minutes smoking cessation instruction mainly by public health nurses and nutritionists following the above-mentioned manual and using the handouts. Subjects in both groups were interviewed by telephone to assess changes in smoking habits one month after the first contact. Smoking clients who came on Friday (132) and on Monday (93) were assigned to study and control groups, respectively. One hundred and nineteen members (90.2%) of the study group and 88 (94.6%) of the control group were successfully followed until one month after the initial contact. Seven subjects in the study group were not smoking one month after the instruction, while no one gave up smoking in the control group (p less than 0.05). It was confirmed by telephone survey that 6 of the 7 subjects who were not smoking at one month were still maintaining abstinence from smoking one year after the instruction. Smokers who did not stop smoking reported a reduction in their smoking dose in the study group. Lighter smokers reacted more readily to instruction than did heavier smokers and the knowledge level of subjects was positively associated with the success rate.