Effects of integrative telephone counseling in the smoking cessation system at the primary care, Thailand

Background and challenges to implementation Even though, there are various ways to assist smokers to quit smoking in Thailand, the number of Thai smokers who can stop smoking continuously still less than the expectation of the National Strategic Plan for Tobacco Control. This study aims to investigate the integrative telephone counseling in the smoking cessation system at the primary care among Thai smokers. Intervention or response The study design was a quasi-experimental design which divided the subjects into experimental (n = 85) and control (n = 67) groups. The experimental group received combination interventions, including brief intervention by Village health volunteers (VHV) and stage-matched individual behavioral counseling by the Thailand National Quitline, whereas, the control group received brief intervention and follow up by the VHV. Quit attempt, start quitting, and point prevalence abstinence at 30 days were performed. In addition, relative risk was used to analyze the ratio of the probability of the outcomes between experimental and control group. Results and lessons learnt The findings illustrated that quit attempt was 76.47% in the experimental group, 52.24% in the control group [RR 2.97 (95%CI = 1.49, 5.95)], start quitting was 60.00% in the experimental group, 25.37% in the control group [RR 4.41 (95%CI = 2.19, 8.89)], and point prevalence abstinence at 30 days was 44.71% in the experimental group, 17.91% in the control group [RR 3.71 (95%CI = 1.74, 7.90)]. It is considered that the interventions can effectively facilitate Thai smokers in the community to quit smoking. Conclusions and key recommendations The integrative telephone counselling increased the quit rate among Thai smokers. Consequently, the interventions through brief intervention along with stage-matched intervention are beneficial for Thailand