Peer-delivered smoking counseling for childhood cancer survivors increases rate of cessation: the partnership for health study.
OBJECTIVE
Cancer survivors smoke at rates that are only slightly lower than the general population. This article reports on the final outcomes of Partnership for Health, a smoking cessation intervention for smokers in the Childhood Cancer Survivors Study (CCSS).


METHODS
This study is a randomized control trial with follow-up at 8 and 12 months that involved smokers (n = 796) enrolled onto the CCSS cohort. Participants were randomly assigned to either a self-help or a peer-counseling program that included up to six telephone calls from a trained childhood cancer survivor, tailored and targeted materials, and free nicotine replacement therapy. The intervention was delivered by telephone and postal service mail.


RESULTS
The quit rate was significantly higher in the counseling group compared with the self-help group at both the 8-month (16.8% v 8.5%; P < .01) and 12-month follow-ups (15% v 9%; P < or = .01). Controlling for baseline self-efficacy and readiness to change, the intervention group was twice as likely to quit smoking, compared with the self-help group. Smoking cessation rate increased with an increase in the number of counseling calls. The cost of delivering the intervention was approximately 300 dollars per participant. The incremental cost-effectiveness of the intervention compared with controls was 5,371 dollars per additional quit.


CONCLUSIONS
Interventions to prevent future illnesses are of critical importance to childhood cancer survivors. The Partnership for Health intervention resulted in a doubling of smoking cessation quit rates. Because of the seriousness of smoking among childhood cancer survivors, this intervention model may be appropriate as a multicomponent treatment program for survivors who smoke.
Emmons
Karen M
KM
Harvard School of Public Health and Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Center for Community-Based Research, Boston, MA 02115, USA. Karen_M_Emmons@dfci.harvard.edu
Puleo
Elaine
E
Park
Elyse
E
Gritz
Ellen R
ER
Butterfield
Rita M
RM
Weeks
Jane C
JC
Mertens
Ann
A
Li
Frederick P
FP
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D017677:Age Distribution; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003376:Counseling; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000401:mortality / Q000628:therapy; D009538:Nicotine / Q000037:antagonists & inhibitors*; D010353:Patient Education as Topic / Q000379:methods; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D015995:Prevalence; D011336:Probability; D012016:Reference Values; D012307:Risk Factors; D012657:Self-Help Groups; D017678:Sex Distribution; D012907:Smoking / Q000453:epidemiology*; D016540:Smoking Cessation / Q000379:methods / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D000074606:Smoking Prevention; D017741:Survivors; D014481:United States
D009538:Nicotine