Randomized clinical trial of an Internet-based versus brief office intervention for adolescent smoking cessation

Objective: Evaluation of novel treatment delivery methods, such as the Internet are notably absent from the adolescent smoking treatment literature. Methods: Adolescent smokers ages 11-18 years were randomized to a clinic-based, brief office intervention (BOI; N = 69) consisting of four individual counseling sessions; or to Stomp Out Smokes (SOS), an Internet, home-based intervention (N = 70). Adolescents in SOS had access to the SOS site for 24 weeks. Results: The 30-day, point-prevalence smoking abstinence rates for BOI and SOS were 12% versus 6% at week 24 and 13% versus 6% at week 36, with no significant treatment differences. Among participants who continued to smoke, SOS was associated with a significantly greater reduction in average number of days smoked than BOI (P = 0.006). The BOI was found to be feasible with high session attendance rates. SOS participants accessed the site a mean ± S.D. of 6.8 ± 7.1 days. SOS use dropped to less than one-third of participants by week 3. Conclusion: Additional research is needed to tap the potential capabilities of the Internet for adolescent smoking cessation using proactive, personalized, patient-education components. Practice implications: Augmenting the SOS type of intervention with more structured, personal and proactive patient-education components delivered in-person or by telephone or electronic mail is recommended.