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Evidence summaries

Telephone Counselling for Smoking Cessation

Proactive telephone counselling is effective for smokers interested in quitting compared with brief advise or self-help material. Three or more calls increase the odds of quitting compared to a minimal intervention. Level of evidence: "A"

A Cochrane review [Abstract] 1 included 104 studies with a total of 111 653 participants. Among smokers who contacted helplines, quit rates were higher for groups randomised to receive multiple sessions of proactive counselling (RR 1.38, 95% CI 1.19 to 1.61; 14 trials, n=32 484; I²=72%). Telephone counselling not initiated by calls to helplines also increased quitting (RR 1.25, 95% CI 1.15 to 1.35; 65 trials, n=41 233; I²=52%). In a meta-regression controlling for other factors the effect was estimated to be slightly larger if more calls were offered. The relative extra benefit of counselling was smaller when it was provided in addition to pharmacotherapy than when the control group only received self-help material or a brief intervention.

A parallel-group, 2-arm, superiority, RCT 2 including 905 subjects assessed the short-term (3 months) effectiveness of the national German quitline (up to 6 telephone counselling calls) for smoking cessation. The control group received a self-help brochure. The telephone counselling group was more likely to achieve 7-day point prevalence abstinence at post-assessment compared to the control group (41.1% vs. 23.1%; OR 2.3, 95% CI 1.7 to 3.1).

A review and meta-analysis 3 included 19 488 smoking subjects. The combination of medication and behavioral counseling was associated with a quit rate of 15.2% over 6 months compared with a quit rate of 8.6% with brief advice or usual care. Brief or intensive behavioral support can be delivered effectively in person or by telephone, text messages, or the internet.

    References

    • Matkin W, Ordóñez-Mena JM, Hartmann-Boyce J. Telephone counselling for smoking cessation. Cochrane Database Syst Rev 2019;(5):CD002850. [PubMed]
    • Maspero S, Delle S, Kraus L, et al. Short-term effectiveness of the national German quitline for smoking cessation: results of a randomized controlled trial. BMC Public Health 2024;24(1):588 [PubMed]
    • Rigotti NA, Kruse GR, Livingstone-Banks J, et al. Treatment of Tobacco Smoking: A Review. JAMA 2022;327(6):566-577[PubMed]

Primary/Secondary Keywords