Evidence map›Paper›PMID 17995993›Full record

Trial reportAddiction (Abingdon, England)2008

Proactive interventions for smoking cessation in general medical practice: a quasi-randomized controlled trial to examine the efficacy of computer-tailored letters and physician-delivered brief advice.

Christian Meyer, Sabina Ulbricht, Sebastian E Baumeister, Anja Schumann, Jeannette Rüge, Gallus Bischof, Hans-Jürgen Rumpf, Ulrich John

Abstract readComparative StudyRandomized Controlled Trial
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Trial report in Addiction (Abingdon, England), 2008. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 20 papers, 6 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
20citing papers in PubMed, 6 pooled it
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

20 citing papers in PubMed, 6 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.

  1. Strategies to improve smoking cessation rates in primary care.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2021
    Pooled it
  2. Print-based self-help interventions for smoking cessation.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2019
    Pooled it
  3. Physician advice for smoking cessation.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2013
    Pooled it
  4. Pooled it
  5. Training health professionals in smoking cessation.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2012
    Pooled it
  6. Pooled it
  7. Trial
  8. Trial
  9. Trial
  10. Trial
  11. Review
  12. Article
  13. Article
  14. Article
  15. Review
  16. The use of emerging technologies in alcohol treatment.Alcohol research & health : the journal of the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism · 2011
    Review
  17. Article
  18. Assessing the outcomes of prolonged cessation-induction and aid-to-cessation trials: floating prolonged abstinence.Nicotine & tobacco research : official journal of the Society for Research on Nicotine and Tobacco · 2009
    Article
  19. Article
  20. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

8 authors.

Christian MeyerDepartment of Epidemiology and Social Medicine, University of Greifswald, Greifswald, Germany. chmeyer@uni-greifswald.de
Sabina Ulbricht
Sebastian E Baumeister
Anja Schumann
Jeannette Rüge
Gallus Bischof
Hans-Jürgen Rumpf
Ulrich John

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

aimsTo test the efficacy of (i) computer-generated tailored letters and (ii) practitioner-delivered brief advice for smoking cessation against an assessment-only condition; and to compare both interventions directly.

designQuasi-randomized controlled trial.

settingA total of 34 randomly selected general practices from a German region (participation rate 87%).

participantsA total of 1499 consecutive patients aged 18-70 years with daily cigarette smoking (participation rate 80%).

interventionsThe tailored letters intervention group received up to three individualized personal letters. Brief advice was delivered during routine consultation by the practitioner after an onsite training session. Both interventions were based on the Transtheoretical Model of behaviour change. MEASUREMENTS: Self-reported point prevalence and prolonged abstinence at 6-, 12-, 18- and 24-month follow-ups.

findingsAmong participants completing the last follow-up, 6-month prolonged abstinence was 18.3% in the tailored letters intervention group, 14.8% in the brief advice intervention group and 10.5% in the assessment-only control group. Assuming those lost to follow-up to be smokers, the rates were 10.2%, 9.7% and 6.7%, respectively. Analyses including all follow-ups confirmed statistically significant effects of both interventions compared to assessment only. Using complete case analysis, the tailored letters intervention was significantly more effective than brief advice for 24-hour [odds ratio (OR) = 1.4; P = 0.047] but not for 7-day point prevalence abstinence (OR = 1.4; P = 0.068) for prolonged abstinence, or for alternative assumptions about participants lost to follow-up.

conclusionsThe study demonstrated long-term efficacy of low-cost interventions for smoking cessation in general practice. The interventions are suitable to reach entire populations of general practices and smoking patients. Computer-generated letters are a promising option to overcome barriers to provide smoking cessation counselling routinely.

Indexed as

Correspondence as TopicCounselingFamily PracticeAdolescentAdultAgedComputersFemaleGermanyHumansMaleMiddle AgedPatient Education as TopicSelf CareSmoking Cessation

Identifiers

PMID17995993
PMCPMC2253708

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.