This study is motivated by the serious public health problems caused by smoking and by the paucity of evidence-based cessation service for smokers of ethnic minority backgrounds. The study tests the effects of telephone counseling for smokers from three Asian language-speaking groups: Chinese, Korean, and Vietnamese. 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 number of smokers.
The specific aims are to: (1) test the efficacy of a culturally sensitive counseling protocol for smokers calling the California Smokers' Helpline on its Chinese, Korean, and Vietnamese lines, (2) examine whether intervention effects are moderated by acculturation, (3) examine whether intervention effects vary 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. In this two-arm design subjects are stratified by language (Chinese, Korean, and Vietnamese) and gender and randomized to telephone counseling or self-help materials, which serves as the control. Subjects (N=2,100) will provide baseline information on demographics, smoking behavior, quitting history, and other psychosocial variables. Independent evaluations at 4, 7, and 13 months after intake will determine whether subjects made a quit attempt and how successful they were at remaining abstinent. This rich data set will also be used to analyze whether acculturation, family involvement, and baseline behavioral and cognitive variables modify the intervention effect. The proposed study is significant in several ways. First, it will provide timely information on a cessation approach for a traditionally under-served population (Asian language speakers). Second, if proven successful, 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.
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