Evidence map›Paper›PMID 24886549›Full record

Trial reportBMC public health2014

Impact of additional counselling sessions through phone calls on smoking cessation outcomes among smokers in Penang State, Malaysia.

Ali Qais Blebil, Syed Azhar Syed Sulaiman, Mohamed Azmi Hassali, Juman Abdulelah Dujaili, Alfian Mohamed Zin

Abstract readRandomized Controlled Trial
In one paragraph

Trial report in BMC public health, 2014. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 11 papers, 6 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
11citing 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

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

  1. Guideline
  2. Behavioral Interventions for Tobacco Cessation in Low- and Middle-Income Countries: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis.Nicotine & tobacco research : official journal of the Society for Research on Nicotine and Tobacco · 2025
    Pooled it
  3. Relapse prevention interventions for smoking cessation.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2019
    Pooled it
  4. Telephone counselling for smoking cessation.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2019
    Pooled it
  5. Pooled it
  6. Relapse prevention interventions for smoking cessation.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2019
    Pooled it
  7. Article
  8. Article
  9. Feasibility and Acceptability of a Telephone-Based Smoking Cessation Intervention for Qatari Residents.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2022
    Article
  10. Article
  11. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

5 authors.

Ali Qais BlebilDiscipline of Clinical Pharmacy, School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Universiti Sains Malaysia, 11800 Penang, Malaysia. aliblebil@yahoo.com.
Syed Azhar Syed Sulaiman
Mohamed Azmi Hassali
Juman Abdulelah Dujaili
Alfian Mohamed Zin

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundStudies all over the world reported that smoking relapses occur during the first two weeks after a quit date. The current study aimed to assess the impact of the additional phone calls counselling during the first month on the abstinence rate at 3 and 6 months after quit date among smokers in Penang, Malaysia.

methodsThe study was conducted at Quit Smoking Clinic of two major hospitals in Penang, Malaysia. All the eligible smokers who attended the clinics between February 1st and October 31st 2012 were invited. Participants were randomly assigned by using urn design method either to receive the usual care that followed in the clinics (control) or the usual care procedure plus extra counselling sessions through phone calls during the first month of quit attempt (intervention).

resultsParticipants in our cohort smoked about 14 cigarettes per day on average (mean = 13.78 ± 7.0). At 3 months, control group was less likely to quit smoking compared to intervention group (36.9% vs. 46.7%, verified smoking status) but this did not reach statistical significance (OR = 0.669; 95% CI = 0.395-1.133, P = 0.86). However, at 6 months, 71.7% of the intervention group were successfully quit smoking (bio-chemically verified) compared to 48.6% of the control group (P < 0.001). The control group were significantly less likely to quit smoking (OR = 0.375; 95% CI = 0.217-0.645, P < 0.001).

conclusionsSmoking cessation intervention consisting of phone calls counselling delivered during the first month of quit attempt revealed significantly higher abstinence rates compared with a standard care approach. Therefore, the additional counselling in the first few weeks after stop smoking is a promising treatment strategy that should be evaluated further.

trial registrationTCTR20140504001.

Indexed as

AdolescentAdultAgedCounselingFemaleHumansMalaysiaMaleMiddle AgedOdds RatioRecurrenceSmokingSmoking CessationTelephoneTobacco Use DisorderYoung Adult

Identifiers

PMID24886549
PMCPMC4030527

What OpenQuestion holds

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LicenceCC BY
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Registered trials

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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.