A self-help intervention for African American smokers: tailoring cancer information service counseling for a special population.
BACKGROUND
African Americans remain a critically underserved group for smoking cessation interventions. This study tested the effectiveness of a tailored, culturally sensitive intervention for African American smokers who called the NCI Cancer Information Service (CIS) for help to quit smoking.


METHODS
This paper presents results of a 2-year study of tailored counseling strategies among African American smokers (n = 1,422) who called four regional CIS offices in response to a radio-based media campaign in 14 communities. Callers were randomly assigned to receive either the standard CIS quit smoking counseling and guide (Clearing the Air) or counseling and a guide (Pathways to Freedom) tailored to the quitting needs and barriers of African American smokers. Callers were predominantly female (63.6%). ages 20-49 (88%), with a high school education or more (84%). Median smoking history was 17 years; median smoking rate was 20 cigarettes/day. Standard (n = 689) and Tailored (n = 733) group subjects did not differ on most baseline measures.


RESULTS
On most measures, Standard and Tailored counseling/guides received similar ratings, but the Tailored guide was rated as having more appealing photos (P = 0.001) and as being more appropriate for family members (P = 0.003). Six-month follow-up with 893 subjects (response rates were 63% Standard, 62% Tailored, ns) showed significantly more quit attempts (P = 0.002) and greater use of prequitting strategies (P < 0.05) among Tailored than among Standard subjects, but no differences in self-reported 1-week abstinence (14.4% Standard, 16.2% Tailored) (ns). An opportunistic 12-month follow-up of subjects recruited in the last year of the study (n = 445) (response rates were 57% Standard, 60% Tailored, ns) showed a significantly higher quit rate (15.4% Standard, 25.0% Tailored) for Tailored subjects (P = 0.034).


CONCLUSIONS
Results show promise for tailored approaches to boost quit attempts and success rates among African American smokers.
Orleans
C T
CT
Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, Princeton, New Jersey, 08543, USA. cto@rwif.org
Boyd
N R
NR
Bingler
R
R
Sutton
C
C
Fairclough
D
D
Heller
D
D
McClatchey
M
M
Ward
J A
JA
Graves
C
C
Fleisher
L
L
Baum
S
S
D000328:Adult; D001741:Black or African American; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D007255:Information Services; D016015:Logistic Models; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010353:Patient Education as Topic / Q000379:methods*; D016540:Smoking Cessation / Q000379:methods*; D018709:Statistics, Nonparametric; D014481:United States