Smokers' Quitline for Asian Language Speakers
Condition: Smoking Cessation
Study type: Interventional

Summary: 
      The study tested the effects of telephone counseling for smokers from three Asian language
      speaking groups: Chinese, Korean, and Vietnamese. The specific aims were to: 1) test the
      efficacy of a culturally appropriate counseling protocol for smokers calling the California
      Smokers' Helpline on the Chinese, Korean and Vietnamese lines, 2) examine whether
      intervention effects varied by cognitive and behavioral predictors of cessation success, 4)
      examine whether family involvement plays a role in quitting success, and 5) assess
      differences in counseling effect across the three ethnic groups.
    

Detailed description: 
      Asian Americans are among the least studied groups in smoking research, which has created a
      knowledge gap in understanding their behavior and in developing methods to help them quit. No
      efficacy data have been reported for telephone counseling of smokers who prefer to use Asian
      languages, although telephone intervention holds promise for these groups because of its
      convenience and its potential to reach large numbers of smokers. In this two-arm design
      subjects are stratified by language (Chinese, Korean, and Vietnamese) and randomized to
      telephone counseling (plus materials) or self-help materials only, which serves as the
      control. The study is significant in several ways. First, it provides timely information on a
      cessation approach for a traditionally under-served population (Asian language speakers).
      Second, effective telephone counseling can be widely applied because of the proliferation of
      quitlines with centralized services in recent years. Third, by targeting Asian language
      speakers this study addresses the issue of ethnic disparities, which has been identified by
      many (including the NCI Bypass Budget) as a research priority.
    

Intervention name(s): Telephone Counseling; Self-Help Materials
Intervention type(s): Behavioral; Behavioral
Intervention description(s): Counseling is conducted in Mandarin, Cantonese, Korean, or Vietnamese by counselors at the Helpline. The protocol used is similar to that proved efficacious. However, to make the counseling culturally appropriate for Asian language speakers, we: capitalizing on first contact, present the Helpline as a credible quit smoking program staffed by "experts", avoid the term "counseling" since it is associated with mental illness, and assume a more authoritative role and directive counseling style. Counseling is proactive (1st call is made by smoker, then subsequent calls are made by the counselor) to help reduce attrition. Counseling includes a 30-40 minute comprehensive pre-quit session plus up to 5 shorter follow-up calls (about 10 minutes) scheduled according to the probability of relapse.; All subjects (both in the telephone counseling group and the materials-only group) receive self-help materials in teh appropriate language. Materials were created in-house, are written in the appropriate language, and cover the essentials of the quitting process such as motivation, physiological and emotional responses to quitting, nicotine in the body, quitting aids, quitting strategies (including those that might be culturally specific such as acupuncture or herbs), setting a quit date, planning, relapse prevention, differentiating between slips and relapse, long-term maintenance, and developing the nonsmoker self-image.
Allocation: Randomized
Intervention model: Parallel Assignment
Masking: None (Open Label)
Primary purpose: Treatment
Keywords: tobacco cessation; smoking cessation; telephone; self-help; smoking abstinence; tobacco use disorder; disparity