TABLE 2.

Discussion Topics and Quotes from 4 Focus Groups (N = 16)

Discussion Topics	Themes	Examples of Participant Responses
The Effect of Abnormal Screening Results on Smoking	Abnormal screening results motivate smokers to quit.	“It was always in the back of my mind that it’s going to be somebody else and not me until I saw that x-ray. That really brought it home.”
		“I would be frantic. I would just probably pass out and die then. It would make me want to stop, yes.”
		“I always felt that people, when they’re confronted with a bad x-ray, that to me is easy [to quit]…What’s hard is to quit when you’re not looking in the face of evidence.”
		“… I contracted double pneumonia and during the process of hospitalization they did an x-ray of my lung and they found a [benign] golf ball-sized blot on my lung… That really freaked me out. And I’ve never touched a cigarette [since].”
		“I mean, suddenly it just hit me cold and I suddenly realized that I could die… it was an infection related to the double pneumonia—it wasn’t a cancer or whatever, but the idea that it could have been a malignant tumor just freaked me out. And that basically is how I stopped.”
	Abnormal screening results encourage continued smoking.	“Well yeah, if it’s a positive result a person is going to realize ‘I’m going to die.’ And they could continue smoking because they’re going to die anyway.”
The Effect of Normal Screening Results on Smoking	Normal screening results give permission to smoke.	“I remember getting results and they were good and I remember thinking, good, I can still smoke.”
		“If the tests come out normal, can I cheat fate a little longer.”
	Normal screening results do not give permission to smoke	“I don’t think of it that way, anyway, like I got a clean scan and now I have a license to smoke. That’s just not a particular connection.”
Interest in Nicotine Replacement Therapy and Other Cessation Medications	Hope to quit without using these aids.	“The medicine and all that, the medicine’s no good to me because you have to go here first (pointing to head) and condition yourself.”
		“The side-effects [of Chantix] alone are scary enough. Thoughts of suicide.”
		“I’m hoping to have a moment of clarity one morning when I wake up… [and say], ‘I’m not smoking anymore.”’
	Would be interested in using these aids.	“I did acupuncture as well and the acupuncturist was extremely effective. So much so that it was actually disconcerting.”
		“If I had somebody, or a text message, who would keep me on the sort of awareness path of a constant reminded and sort of make me realize how weak and ineffectual I am.”
		“The scan is the first step. So then the second step that I would consider is a counseling program and/or, as part of that counseling program, they could discuss some of these alternative methods like herbal therapies or homeopathic medicines.”
		“… Chantix really works. I was amazed. I wasn’t even tempted for a cigarette.”
Interest in Telephone Counseling	Counseling would help me (and others) quit smoking.	“… individual counseling, whether face-to-face or by telephone is something that could keep someone engaged with the process of wanting to quit.”
		“I think individual counseling would keep people engaged. Like a career counselor or a life coach or whatever, making sure you’re aware of the risk and making sure you’re on track.”
		“I’m just thinking about if someone called me once a week… Just knowing that there’s someone that cares… It’s just that personal touch of someone out there saying ‘hey, keep it up.”’
	Counseling may not be for everyone.	“I don’t think anyone can talk to me to get me to stop.”