Table 1.
Baseline characteristics of smokers assigned to intervention and control groups
| Characteristics | Intervention group (N = 169) n (%) | Control group (N = 149) n (%) |
| Demographic characteristics | ||
| Age (mean ± SD years) | 39 (12) | 36 (12) |
| Male | 87 (51) | 61 (41) |
| Completed high school or tertiary education | 70 (41) | 59 (40) |
| Employed full or part-time | 102 (60) | 88 (59) |
| English language spoken at home | 153 (91) | 139 (93) |
| General health characteristics | ||
| 'Excellent' or 'Very good' self-reported health status | 42 (25) | 40 (27) |
| Concurrent conditions (self-reported) | ||
| Heart disease | 5 (3) | 4 (3) |
| Chronic bronchitis or emphysema | 5 (3) | 8 (5) |
| Cancer | 1 (<1) | 2 (2) |
| Diabetes mellitus | 7 (4) | 8 (5) |
| Vascular disease | 7 (4) | 5 (3) |
| Attending regular GP | 134 (79) | 120 (80) |
| Smoking characteristics | ||
| Smoking status | ||
| Regular smoker | 145 (86) | 130 (87) |
| Occasional smoker (not every day) | 23 (14) | 19 (13) |
| Pipes and cigars only | 1 (<1) | 0 |
| Amount smoked (cigarettes/day) | ||
| 10 or less | 39 (24) | 46 (32) |
| 11–20 | 74 (46) | 63 (43) |
| 21–30 | 38 (24) | 28 (19) |
| 31 or more | 10 (6) | 8 (6) |
| Nicotine dependency rated 'High' or 'Very High' | 50 (30) | 40 (27) |
| Stage of change for smoking cessation | ||
| Pre-contemplation | 58 (34) | 61 (41) |
| Contemplation | 62 (37) | 48 (32) |
| Preparation | 33 (20) | 35 (23) |
| Missing | 16 (9) | 5 (3) |
| At least one quit attempt in previous 6 months | 64 (38) | 36 (24) |
| At least one quit attempt in previous 12 months | 79 (47) | 51 (34) |