Duration of Follow-Up Counselling on Smoking Cessation Outcomes

Smoke Free Randomized Controlled Trial

Smoking cessation improves mortality, even in patients with existing smoking-related morbidity. Telephone follow-up after smoking cessation counselling as been shown to be an important method to provide support to smokers and to improve quit rates, especially if three or more calls were used in addition to face-to-face counselling. While it is reasonable to assume that more counselling leads to better smoking cessation outcomes, little evidence exists over the amount of telephone follow-up counselling that is required for optimal and sustained abstinence. We aim to investigate if six-months of weekly telephone follow-up is superior to one-month of weekly telephone follow-up.

Inclusion Criteria:

• Current smokers among outpatients, including hospital employees, who provide informed consent for enrollment in the smoking cessation program

Exclusion Criteria:

• Subjects who decline smoking cessation or who do not provide informed consent
• Subjects who are participating or will be participating in other smoking cessation programs within the next six months
• Subjects who are currently using smoking cessation medications
• Subjects who cannot be followed up for at least six months, for instance, subjects who would be resigning and going overseas within the next six months
• Subjects with language limitations that would impede completion of self-administered questionnaires
• Subjects who are difficult to communicate with over the telephone (e.g. having speech or hearing problems)
• Subjects with cognitive impairments that would impede counselling and follow-up
• Subjects with no telephone number
• Subjects who are too sick to receive smoking cessation counselling
• Subjects with limited life expectancy (e.g. metastatic cancer)