title: Efficacy of telephone quit-line for smokers in iran: 12 months follow up results.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Smoking cessation is an effective intervention for cancer prevention. For some reasons many smokers cannot attend quit programs and they prefer to have a consultation over the phone. In this study we share our experience regarding setting up a quit-line for smoking cessation for the first time in Iran.
  
  
  METHODS
  Two general practitioners were trained to give consultation over the phone via quit line in Tehran. The quit program consisted of 4 sessions with 1 week interval. Our telephone counseling was both reactive and proactive from 8 AM till 5 PM during the years 2005 - 2008. In reactive counseling, the smoker initiates the call and speaks with a counselor about his/her current concerns. In proactive counseling, the counselor calls the smoker and provides counseling in a systematic manner. Smoking status was determined based on smokers' self-report and regular follow-ups were conducted after quitting. Some cases were randomly selected for CO respiratory test in order to confirm their abstinence.
  
  
  RESULTS
  A total of 480 cases entered the cessation program out of which, 80% were males. The mean age was 38.5±7.9 years, 72.7% of participants were married, 75.2% of subjects were educated and 51.3% of cases had high nicotine dependence. A total of 332 cases received a brief advice on quitting, 148 people continued their active participation to complete the course and 122 cases (82.4%) quitted smoking. The sustained abstinence rate after 1, 3, 6 and 12 months was 59%, 41%, 31% and 18%; respectively.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This method is an appropriate and accessible method which can be suggested to smokers during smoking cessation counseling.
authors.affiliation: Tobacco Prevention and Control Research Center, NRITLD, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Science, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Gholamreza
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Heydari
authors.affiliation: Tobacco Prevention and Control Research Center, NRITLD, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Science, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Ginus
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Jianfar
authors.affiliation: Tobacco Prevention and Control Research Center, NRITLD, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Science, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Anahita
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Alvanpour
authors.affiliation: Tobacco Prevention and Control Research Center, NRITLD, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Science, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Zahra
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Hesami
authors.affiliation: Chronic Respiratory Disease Research Center, NRITLD, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Science, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Firouzeh
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Talischi
authors.affiliation: Chronic Respiratory Disease Research Center, NRITLD, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Science, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Mohammad Reza
authors.initials: MR
authors.lastname: Masjedi
keywords: Cessation; Iran; Quit-line; Smoking