title: Community stop-smoking contests in the COMMIT trial: relationship of participation to costs. Community Intervention trials.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  This study quantifies resources used to conduct 26 community-wide quit-smoking contests, the percentage of smokers that participated in these contests, and the statistical associations between resource inputs and participation percentages.
  
  
  METHODS
  Data collected from the 11 COMMIT intervention communities (adult population range 47,490-185,913) included number of contest participants, contest procedures, and resource inputs. Stepwise regression was used to find the most meaningful association(s) of independent variables with contest participation percentage.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Contest participation percentages ranged from 0.27 to 3.11% of smokers (mean = 1.26%). Total cost (COMMIT and community-contributed resources and dollar expenditures) to conduct a contest averaged $24,857 (range $5,751-$74,556), or $78.57 per contest participant. Expenditures in various specific resource categories varied greatly. Total expenditures per smoker in the community (excluding expenditures for prizes) was the independent variable most highly correlated with contest participation percentage, accounting for 63% of the total variability in participation percentages.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The percentage of smoker participation in community-wide stop-smoking contests appears primarily to be a function of total resource expenditures, regardless of the specific types of resources funded. Stop-smoking contests are judged to be quite cost effective. Study strengths and weaknesses are discussed.
authors.affiliation: Duke University Medical Center, Durham, North Carolina, USA.
authors.forename: R H
authors.initials: RH
authors.lastname: Shipley
authors.forename: T D
authors.initials: TD
authors.lastname: Hartwell
authors.forename: W D
authors.initials: WD
authors.lastname: Austin
authors.forename: A C
authors.initials: AC
authors.lastname: Clayton
authors.forename: L C
authors.initials: LC
authors.lastname: Stanley
mesh_terms: D003365:Costs and Cost Analysis; D006293:Health Promotion / Q000191:economics*; D006801:Humans; D016540:Smoking Cessation / Q000191:economics*; D014481:United States