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Lifetime Characteristics of Participants and Non-participants in a Smoking Cessation Trial: Implications for External Validity and Public Health Impact

  • Original Article
  • Published:
Annals of Behavioral Medicine

Abstract

Background

Detailed information about the characteristics of smokers who do and do not participate in smoking cessation treatment is needed to improve efforts to reach, motivate, and treat smokers.

Purpose

The aim of this study is to explore a broad range of characteristics related to participation in a smoking cessation trial.

Methods

Eligible smokers were recruited from a longitudinal birth cohort. Participants and non-participants were compared on a broad range of sociodemographics, smoking, psychiatric and substance abuse disorders, personality, and prospective measures from early childhood. Eligible smokers were compared to a matched regional subsample of the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS).

Results

Few differences were observed, most of which were statistically significant but not clinically meaningful. Compared to non-participants, participants were more likely to be single, have lower income, be more nicotine-dependent, be more motivated to quit, and have higher levels of depressed mood and stress even after covariance of gender, income, and marital status. Sociodemographic differences between participants and the BRFSS sample reflect the skew toward lower socioeconomic status in the original birth cohort.

Conclusions

The encouraging conclusion is that smokers who enroll in cessation trials may not differ much from non-participants. Information about treatment participants can inform the development of recruitment strategies, improve the tailoring of treatment to individual smoker profiles, help to estimate potential selection bias, and improve estimates of population impact.

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Acknowledgment

This study was supported by (or in part by) the National Institutes of Health (NIH), Transdisciplinary Tobacco Use Research Center (TTURC) Award (P50 CA084719), the National Cancer Institute, the National Institute on Drug Abuse, and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. We thank Ms. Barbara Doll and Ms. Susan Marx for their assistance in preparing the final manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Cancer Control Program, Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center, Georgetown University Medical Center, 3300 Whitehaven Street, NW, Suite 4100, Washington, DC, 20007, USA

    A. L. Graham Ph.D.

  2. Center for Statistical Sciences, Brown University, Box G-S121, Providence, RI, 02912, USA

    G. D. Papandonatos Ph.D.

  3. Centers for Behavioral and Preventive Medicine, Brown Medical School/The Miriam Hospital, One Hoppin Street, Suite 500, Providence, RI, 02903, USA

    J. D. DePue Ed.D., M.P.H., B. M. Pinto Ph.D. & B. Borrelli Ph.D.

  4. The National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse, Columbia University, 633 Third Ave, 19th Floor, New York, NY, 10017, USA

    C. J. Neighbors Ph.D., MBA

  5. Butler Hospital Transdisciplinary Research, 345 Blackstone Blvd., Providence, RI, 02906, USA

    R. Niaura Ph.D.

  6. Department of Community Health, Brown University, 121 South Main Street, Providence, RI, 02912, USA

    S. L. Buka Sc.D.

  7. Office of Behavioral and Social Sciences Research, National Institutes of Health, 31 Center Drive, Building 31, Room B1.C19, Bethesda, MD, 20892, USA

    D. B. Abrams Ph.D.

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  1. A. L. Graham Ph.D.
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  2. G. D. Papandonatos Ph.D.
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  6. C. J. Neighbors Ph.D., MBA
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  8. S. L. Buka Sc.D.
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  9. D. B. Abrams Ph.D.
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Graham, A.L., Papandonatos, G.D., DePue, J.D. et al. Lifetime Characteristics of Participants and Non-participants in a Smoking Cessation Trial: Implications for External Validity and Public Health Impact. ann. behav. med. 35, 295–307 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12160-008-9031-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12160-008-9031-1

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