Nurse case-managed tobacco cessation interventions for general hospital patients: results of a randomized clinical trial

Abstract

This randomized clinical trial was designed to test the efficacy of intensive versus brief smoking cessation interventions for hospital patients. The interventions included advice and pamphlets for Brief and bedside counselling, take-home materials, and 7 post-discharge telephone counselling calls over 2 months for Intensive. Confirmed 1-year abstinence was 28% for Intensive (85/301) and 24% for Brief (76/315). Abstinence was significantly higher for patients who did not use pharmacotherapy (36%) versus those who did (16%) and for patients with CVD (40%) versus other diagnoses (20%). Because this was a replication trial, benchmarks for planning can be suggested: 12% to 15% recruitment of identified smokers, 90% plus completion for Intensive, 15% drop-out, and 75% abstinence corroboration. The results consolidate findings for general inpatients, including expected absolute abstinence and treatment outcomes, the effect of CVD patients on outcomes, the reproducibility of high abstinence in a universal health-care system, and the need for more research to inform practice.