title: Who enrolled in a randomized controlled trial of quitline support? Comparison of participants versus nonparticipants.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Understanding the characteristics of smokers who enroll in a trial of quitline support and those who decline could guide recruitment approaches and service delivery to better engage smokers and increase successful quitting. However, it is unknown whether factors such as smokers' perceived effectiveness of using quitting aids or self-exempting beliefs are associated with quitline uptake. We compared the sociodemographic characteristics, smoking behaviours, perceived effectiveness of using quitting aids, and self-exempting beliefs of participants and nonparticipants who were actively telephoned and offered quitline support as part of a randomized controlled trial.
  
  
  METHODS
  Overall, 48,014 telephone numbers were randomly selected from the electronic telephone directory and contacted. A total of 3,008 eligible smokers were identified and invited to participate in a trial of quitline support. Consenting trial participants (n = 1,562) and nonparticipants (n = 500) completed a baseline interview.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Multivariate analysis showed that the following factors were associated with trial participation: consumption of 21 or more cigarettes per day (odds ratio [OR] = 1.45 [1.07-1.99]), readiness to quit within 30 days (OR = 4.45 [3.20-6.19]) or 6 months (OR = 3.22 [2.46-4.23]), perceiving that calling the quitline was definitely (OR = 2.34 [1.62-3.39]) or partly effective (OR = 2.15 [1.63-2.83]), believing that using self-help materials was partly effective (OR = 1.50 [1.16-1.94]), thinking that nicotine replacement therapy was partly effective (OR = 1.38 [1.04-1.84]), perceiving that using willpower alone was partly (OR = 1.99 [1.48-2.67]) or not effective (OR = 2.60 [1.95-3.46]), and not holding a self-exempting belief (OR = 1.45 [1.11-1.89]).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Increasing smokers' utilization of quitlines is likely to require changing their perceptions of the effectiveness of quitting strategies compared with using willpower alone and addressing self-exempting beliefs.
authors.affiliation: Priority Research Centre for Health Behaviour, University of Newcastle & Hunter Medical Research Institute, Callaghan, New South Wales, Australia;
authors.forename: Flora
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Tzelepis
authors.forename: Christine L
authors.initials: CL
authors.lastname: Paul
authors.forename: Raoul A
authors.initials: RA
authors.lastname: Walsh
authors.forename: Jenny
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Knight
authors.forename: John
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Wiggers
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D003376:Counseling / Q000379:methods*; D005260:Female; D015277:Hotlines; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D009517:New South Wales; D010342:Patient Acceptance of Health Care; D010358:Patient Participation; D018579:Patient Selection; D016032:Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D016540:Smoking Cessation / Q000379:methods*; D000074606:Smoking Prevention; D013689:Telephone; D013997:Time Factors; D055815:Young Adult