Design and Pilot Evaluation of an Internet Smoking Cessation Program
- Leslie Lenert,
- Ricardo F Muñoz,
- Jackie Stoddard,
- Kevin Delucchi,
- Aditya Bansod,
- Steven Skoczen,
- Eliseo J Pérez-Stable
- Affiliations of the authors: University of California at San Diego, Veterans Administration, San Diego, California (LL, AB, SS); Department of Psychiatry, University of California at San Francisco, San Francisco, California (RFM, JS, KD); Division of General Internal Medicine, Department of Medicine, University of California at San Francisco, San Francisco, California (EJPS)
- Correspondence and reprints: Leslie Lenert, MD, MS, Section on Health Services Research, MC 111N-1, VA San Diego Healthcare System, 3350 La Jolla Village Drive, San Diego, CA 92161; e-mail: <llenert{at}ucsd.edu>
- Received 21 March 2002
- Accepted 13 August 2002
Abstract
Relatively little is known about how to use the Internet to promote health behavioral change. This article describes a multiple-contact Internet smoking cessation program with an 8-week web-based course, online tools for self-monitoring of behaviors, and computer-tailored e-mail messages timed to enrollees’ quit efforts. In a pilot study in 49 smokers, we found that enrollees returned to the website a median of 2 times and completed an average of 2 of 8 educational modules. In follow-up, respondents (n = 26) rated e-mail and web components of the intervention as equally valuable (5.9 vs. 5.5 of 10, p = 0.44). While site had potentially important effects on smoking behaviors (34% of enrollees either quit smoking or had a 50% reduction in cigarette use), we were not able hold the interest of the majority of enrollees over the intervention period. Problems with the design of the site are discussed.
Footnotes
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This research was supported by funds from the California Tobacco-Related Disease Research Program of the University of California, Grant Number 7RT-0057, Ricardo F. Muñoz, PI.
