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A Comparison of Two Self-Help Methods
for Smokeless Tobacco Cessation

Funded by Oregon Research Institute

1994-1996

Rationale:

An estimated 35 million Americans use chewing tobacco or moist snuff. These products, known as smokeless tobacco (SLT), have increased in sales over the past decade in the United States, and growing use by young males is a public health concern. Adult u se is approximately 6% for males and <1% for females, but use among high school youth is much higher (19.4% of boys report use in the past 30 days). This increased use and the implication of SLT in oral and other cancers and in cardiovascular disease hav e increased interest in developing low-cost, effective cessation programs.

Methods:

This study compared two self-help quitting programs:

All participants received phone call support with encouragement to use the LifeSign or to set a quit date and use the strategies noted in the manual.

Participants:

The study randomized 198 participants who met the following enrollment criteria:

Table: SLT Use at Enrollment

Assessment:

Participants were assessed at 2 months and 6 months following the initiation of their quit attempt (either their chosen quit date or 7 days after starting LifeSign use). Subjects were not assessed if they quit SLT before using the intervention, if they e xperienced more than two failures of the LifeSign machines (replacements were provided upon request), or if they would not set a quit date or use the LifeSign. The latter subjects and other nonresponders were counted as users in the follow-up assessment.

Results:

Both interventions resulted in quit rates (18.4-24.0% who were abstinent at both assessment points) that are comparable to self-help quitting among smokers. There was no significant difference between conditions in self-reported abstinence from tobacco a t follow up, but in general the self-help guide and video resulted in higher quit rates.

Table: Self-Reported Smokeless Tobacco Cessation Rates

Investigators:

Herbert H. Severson, Ph.D. Dr. Severson is an internationally recognized expert in smokeless tobacco use and cessation. He has authored Enough Snuff, a 48-page quitting guide published by Applied Behavior Science Press; Smokeless Tobacco: A Deadly Addiction , published by Health EdCo; and numerous scientific articles in this field. He has contributed to three Surgeon General's reports on tobacco use and was a co-author of the 1994 Institute of Medicine report, Growing Up Tobacco Free.

Edward Lichtenstein, Ph.D. Dr. Lichtenstein has been a leader in the field of tobacco cessation for more than 30 years and is known for his early work in smoking cessation, as well as his more recent work in developing low-cost approaches to assisting peopl e who want to quit smoking or smokeless use.

Judy A. Andrews, Ph.D. Dr. Andrews' area of expertise is in research design, statistics, and evaluation. She has been involved with tobacco cessation research for over eight years. She is responsible for analysis of the data in the questionnaires, which will determ ine the effectiveness of the materials overall and with different categories of users.

Albert Jerome, Ph.D. Dr. Jerome, Director of Research at PICS, Inc., is an expert in computerized behavioral self-management. He has been instrumental in the development and testing of the LifeSign tobacco cessation computer and the DietMate platform of palm-sized computers used for diet and exercise interventions.

For questions about the study or this site, contact:

Laura Akers
Oregon Research Institute
1715 Franklin Blvd.
Eugene, OR 97403

phone: (541) 484-2123
fax: (541) 484-1108

last updated February 1998