Abstinence and relapse rates following a college campus-based quit & win contest.
OBJECTIVE
To conduct and evaluate Quit & Win contests at 2 2-year college and 2 4-year university campuses.


METHODS
During Spring semester, 2006, undergraduates (N = 588) interested in quitting smoking signed up for a Quit & Win 30-day cessation contest for a chance to win a lottery prize.


METHODS
Participants (N = 588) completed a baseline survey, provided a urine sample to verify smoking status before joining the contest, and completed a follow-up survey at contest end to assess abstinence. Participants reporting continuous 30-day abstinence were surveyed again 2 weeks post contest to assess relapse.


RESULTS
Participants smoked an average of 9.8 +/- 6.7 cigarettes/day on 26.7 +/- 5.7 days/month. Among participants completing a follow-up survey (74%), 72.1% reported abstinence during the entire contest period (Intent-to-Treat Analysis = 53.2%). 55.3% of those abstinent at the end of contest had resumed smoking 2 weeks post contest.


CONCLUSIONS
Campus Quit & Win contests appear feasible, acceptable, and effective at facilitating short-term abstinence. Further research is needed to identify strategies to prevent postcontest relapse.
Department of Medicine, Division of General Internal Medicine, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis 55414, USA. jthomas@umn.edu
Janet L
JL
Thomas
Larry
L
An
Xianghua
X
Luo
Robyn M
RM
Scherber
Carla J
CJ
Berg
Dave
D
Golden
Edward P
EP
Ehlinger
Sharon E
SE
Murphy
Stephen S
SS
Hecht
Jasjit S
JS
Ahluwalia
D000328:Adult; D003625:Data Collection; D005260:Female; D006293:Health Promotion; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D016015:Logistic Models; D008297:Male; D009042:Motivation; D016017:Odds Ratio; D012309:Risk-Taking; D012907:Smoking / Q000453:epidemiology; D016540:Smoking Cessation / Q000379:methods*; D000074606:Smoking Prevention; D040241:Social Marketing; D013334:Students; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology; D014495:Universities; D055815:Young Adult