Treating tobacco dependence among African Americans: a meta-analytic review.
OBJECTIVE
African Americans suffer disproportionately from smoking-related morbidity and mortality; yet it is unclear whether existing treatments benefit this population. The purposes of this meta-analysis were to evaluate the overall efficacy of smoking cessation interventions (SCIs) among African American adults and to examine specific study characteristics and methods that influence treatment outcome.


METHODS
Twenty published and unpublished studies representing 32 hypothesis tests and 12,743 smokers compared SCIs to control conditions.


METHODS
(1) Smoking abstinence post-treatment; (2) abstinence at the first follow-up assessment; and (3) 11 potential moderators of treatment effects.


RESULTS
Overall, SCIs increased the odds of cessation by 40% at posttest and 30% at follow-up. Treatment type, setting, cultural specificity, unit of analysis, outcome measure, nature of control group, and biochemical verification moderated the overall treatment effect size.


CONCLUSIONS
SCIs are efficacious among African Americans. Theoretical, clinical, and future research implications are discussed.
Webb
Monica S
MS
Department of Psychology, Syracuse University, Syracuse, NY 13244-2340, USA. mswebb@syr.edu
D000328:Adult; D001741:Black or African American / Q000523:psychology; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D012107:Research Design; D016540:Smoking Cessation / Q000208:ethnology* / Q000379:methods*; D014029:Tobacco Use Disorder / Q000208:ethnology / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D014481:United States