University of Minnesota Medical School and Minneapolis VA Medical Center research shows that smokers who receive support over the telephone when trying to quit are more successful in kicking the habit than those who receive help as part of routine medical care.
The research is published in the March 13, 2006, issue of Archives of Internal Medicine, one of the JAMA/Archives journals. Lawrence C. An, M.D., assistant professor of medicine, and colleagues studied daily smokers who received care at five Veterans Affairs medical centers in the upper Midwest and were committed to quitting within one month.
"The findings suggest that health-care providers should consider adding telephone care to their smoking cessation programs," An said. "With the telephone support, we are able to bring the service to the smokers instead of making them come to us to get help."
The smokers in the study were divided into two groups: one received self-help materials in the mail and had continued access to smoking cessation services as part of routine medical care; the other group received counseling sessions using telephone care, which consisted of seven calls over a two-month period as well as mailing of smoking medications, as appropriate, directly to their homes.