Feasibility of smoking cessation counseling by phone with alcohol treatment center graduates

Abstract

Several studies have tested the effectiveness of telephone counseling as a smoking cessation intervention, but few have addressed its application with the special population of smokers who are also problem drinkers or recovering alcoholics. Two hundred and eighty-eight male and female subjects were recruited from six residential alcohol treatment programs in Nebraska, Iowa, and Kansas to receive three postreatment telephone calls based on the stages of change model. Most subjects (71%) participated in at least one telephone counseling session, but only 38% participated in all three. Those who completed of session were significantly (p < .01) more likely to have advanced one stage of change in their readiness to quit smoking and to report having quit smoking for at least 24 hours since leaving treatment (p < .01). Stage-based telephone counseling appears to be a feasible approach to addressing smoking cessation among recovering alcoholics, with a modest positive effect on subsequent tobacco use.