Long-term engagement in smoking cessation counseling among rural smokers.
BACKGROUND
Effective smoking cessation treatment requires active patient engagement. This may be particularly important for rural smokers who have less access to smoking cessation resources than others. This study describes long-term engagement in counseling for smoking cessation and factors associated with engagement.


METHODS
As part of a randomized trial, 231 rural smokers received up to 6 telephone-based counseling sessions at 6-month intervals over 24 months. Engagement in treatment was categorized according to the number of counseling calls each interval. During the final 6-month interval, more than 60% of continuing smokers remained engaged in treatment. Call completion varied over time; while levels of engagement dropped after the first interval, many continuing smokers remained engaged throughout the study. Education, age, motivation, income, diabetes, and health insurance status were predictors of treatment engagement.


CONCLUSIONS
This study demonstrates that smokers will remain engaged in long-term counseling designed to address the chronic nature of nicotine dependence.
Department of Preventive Medicine and Public Health, University of Kansas Medical Center, Kansas City, USA. acupertino@kumc.edu
A Paula
AP
Cupertino
Jonathan D
JD
Mahnken
Kimber
K
Richter
Lisa Sanderson
LS
Cox
Genevieve
G
Casey
Ken
K
Resnicow
Edward F
EF
Ellerbeck
D003376:Counseling / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011203:Poverty; D015397:Program Evaluation; D019035:Rural Health Services / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D016540:Smoking Cessation; D013689:Telephone; D013997:Time Factors; D014481:United States