Comparison of five measures of motivation to quit smoking among a sample of hospitalized smokers.
OBJECTIVE
To compare the predictive validity of several measures of motivation to quit smoking among inpatients enrolled in a smoking cessation program.


METHODS
Data collected during face-to-face counseling sessions included a standard measure of motivation to quit (stage of readiness [Stage]: precontemplation, contemplation, or preparation) and four items with responses grouped in three categories: "How much do you want to quit smoking" (Want), "How likely is it that you will stay off cigarettes after you leave the hospital" (Likely), "Rate your confidence on a scale from 0 to 100 about successfully quitting in the next month" (Confidence), and a counselor assessment in response to the question, "How motivated is this patient to quit?" (Motivation). Patients were classified as nonsmokers if they reported not smoking at both the 6-month and 12-month interviews. All patients lost to follow-up were considered smokers.


RESULTS
At 1 year, the smoking cessation rate was 22. 5%. Each measure of motivation to quit was independently associated with cessation ( p <.001) when added individually to an adjusted model. Likely was most closely associated with cessation and Stage was least. Likely had a sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, negative predictive value, and likelihood ratio of 70.2%, 68.1%, 39.3%, 88.6%, and 2.2, respectively.


CONCLUSIONS
The motivation of inpatient smokers to quit may be as easily and as accurately predicted with a single question as with the series of questions that are typically used.
Sciamanna
C N
CN
Department of Medicine, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA.
Hoch
J S
JS
Duke
G C
GC
Fogle
M N
MN
Ford
D E
DE
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D016015:Logistic Models; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009042:Motivation; D016017:Odds Ratio; D016540:Smoking Cessation