Mean age: 36.7 years, 50.9% female.

I: Received health education materials targeting cardiovascular risk factors, and invited to participate in a seven-session (1.5 hours per session) smoking-cessation group class conducted after the 6-month follow-up. Brief, tailored smoking cessation booster messages were delivered at the end of 3- and 6-month interviews, based on point-prevalence smoking status and history. Also received a tailored support letter based on smoking status, referring to specific sections of the smoking-cessation materials. 

C: Received health education materials targeting cardiovascular risk factors.

Stage movement: Not reported.

I: Motivational consulting is based on inviting patients to numerically rate their motivation and confidence to quit smoking (phase 1). Clinicians respond to these scores using specific questions and strategies (phase 2). The aim is to build motivation or confidence by encouraging the patient to identify arguments for change (motivation) or practical, attainable steps for quitting (confidence). Finally, patients are invited to set meaningful targets for themselves (phase 3).

C: Brief Advice consisted of the following statement: "Smoking is an extremely serious matter. Apart from lung cancer, smoking can damage your health in many other ways. If you give up now, a lot of the harm can be undone. It is my professional duty to tell you that you must give up smoking in the interest of your future health."

Stage movement: A linear trend was found after six months for stage movement favouring the stage based intervention.

N=251. Current regular smokers attending an internal medicine clinic (consecutive patients). Mean age: 36 year, 40 % female.

I: A training programme administered over 2 half-days, during which physicians learned to provide counselling that matched smokers motivation to quit and practiced these skills with standardised patients acting as smokers at different stages of change.

C: A didactic session (half-day course) on management of dyslipidemia.

Stage movement (stage based versus non-smoking intervention): No significant differences between groups in the proportion of smokers in precontemplation stage; or proportion moving one stage forward.

Volunteers responding to newspaper, radio and other media advertisements.

Mean age: 40 years, 62% female

I1: Based on their pretest scores, participants were sent the manual matched to their individual stage of change and manuals for all subsequent stages (5 manuals: 1-Precontemplation; 2-Contemplation; 3-Action; 4-Maintenance; and 5-Relapse). 

I2: Transtheoretical manuals and individualised written feedback (a series of 3 computer-generated reports) based on pretest, posttest, and 6-month questionnaires.

I3: Transtheoretical manuals and individualised written feedback plus a series of 4 personalised counsellor calls (following a protocol for social support in stressful decisions) at pre-test, post-test, 3 months, and 6 months. The telephone counselling protocols were stage matched and basically followed the outline of the expert system reports. 

C: American Cancer Society/American Lung Association materials and manuals.

Stage movement: Not reported.

Cigarette smokers with low readiness to change, recruited by newspaper advertisements.

Mean age 41.7 years, 62.8% female

I1: Tailored intervention. Computerised system used to generate three consecutive tailored letters. 

I2: Tailored intervention. Computerised system used to generate a single tailored letter. 

I3: Self-help guide. 46-page colour self-help manual developed for use in a community smoking cessation project. 

C: no information.

Stage movement: A significant effect of one stage based intervention (I1) compared to the non-stage based intervention (I3) for ‘immotives’ but not for ‘precontemplators’. The other stage based intervention (I2) showed no differences in stage movement compared to the non-stage based intervention (I3) for ‘immotives’ and ‘precontemplators’; (stage based versus no information): A significant effect of both stage based interventions (I1and I2) compared to the usual care control group (C) for ‘immotives’ but not for ‘precontemplators’.

I: Motivational Intervention. A 30- to 45-minutes Motivational Intervention -session at the participant’s home with a trained health educator and 4 follow-up telephone counselling calls. With feedback from baseline household nicotine assessments and participant’s carbon monoxide level.

C: Self-help comparison condition. Participants received a copy of the smoking cessation manual, the passive smoke reduction tip sheet, and the resource guide in the mail.

Stage movement: Not reported.

I: Participants received by mail a computer-tailored counselling letter based on their answers to a questionnaire and stage based booklets. The counselling letters were tailored to the participant’s stage of change (categorised as: precontemplation [no intention of quitting smoking in the next 6 month], contemplation [seriously considers quitting in the next 6 months], preparation [has decided to quit in the next 30 days]), level of tobacco dependence, self-efficacy, and personal characteristics. After 2 and 4 participants filled out a new questionnaire and received a new counselling letter.

C: No intervention.

Hazard Ratio of quitting smoking in I: 2.1 (95% Confidence Interval: 1.4, 3.2). 

Stage movement (stage based versus no intervention): Not reported.

Mean age: 57.8 years, 30.7% female.

ALL: Head and neck surgeons and maxillofacial prosthodontists deliver smoking cessation advice according to standardised protocols to surgical patients 2 to 3 days before hospital discharge and, to radiation-only patients, prior to treatment initiation.

I: The protocol then called for providers to give 6 monthly booster advice sessions to experimental participants as part of regular medical or dental post-treatment care. The 6 booster sessions consisted of debriefing respondents regarding their smoking cessation efforts prior to the visit and then tailoring advice to the respondent's current smoking status (abstainer, relapser, continuing smoker) according to the provider advice guidelines.

C: Received standardised 'usual care' advice from doctors regarding smoking and its contingent risks, as well as the benefits of cessation for head and neck cancer patients.

Stage movement (stage based versus usual care): Not reported.

I: Smoking education by trained health professionals.

C: Smoking education by untrained controls.

Stage movement: no significant differences between groups.

I1: Tailored letter: computerised system for generating tailored letter, based on answers in the questionnaire. System was devised by experts who were informed by their clinical experience and their knowledge of various models of behaviour change, in particular the "stage of change" model of smoking cessation. Smokers were first categorised according to their intention to stop smoking and their "decisional balance". This determined the main topics to be included in the letters.

I2: Non-tailored letter: a default tailored letter produced by scanning a blank questionnaire.

C: No letter: a letter thanking them for their participation and informing them that they would receive material at the end of the study (if either intervention worked).

Smoking cessation (stage based versus no intervention): Validated cessation rate at 6 months: I1=3.5% (30/857) (95% Confidence Interval: 2.3%, 4.7%), C=2.6% (22/850) (95% Confidence Interval: 1.5%, 3.7%). No significant difference between I1 and C; after adjustment for significant covariates, the cessation rate was 66% greater (4% to 186%; P=0.07) in I2 than in C.

Stage movement: Not reported. 

Stage movement (stage based versus no intervention): Not reported for total group. Among heavy smokers: I1: 76% (95% Confidence Interval: 11%, 180%) more likely positive shift than C. Among others no significant difference between I1 and C.

I: physicians received on-site training to implement a modified National Cancer Institute smoking cessation intervention. The National Cancer Institute programme comprises 4 steps: Ask about smoking at every opportunity, Advise all smokers to stop, Assist the patient to stop smoking, and Arrange for follow-up support. 

Patients were give a copy of a smoking cessation guide tailored to older smokers ('Clear Horizons') and asked: 'If we give you some help, are you willing to try to quit?' Smokers in different stages received stage specific counselling. Smokers received a brief follow-up counselling call within 2-4 weeks of the intervention visit to reinforce their efforts, explore barriers, and discuss their quit plans.

C: delayed intervention practices were instructed to provide usual care to their older smokers over the accrual and follow-up period.

Stage movement (stage based versus usual care): Not reported.

Finnish men, smoking at least 10 cigarettes a day, from rural and urban settings. 

Ages: 42, 48, 54 and 60 years, 100% male.

I: Five 10 to 20 page self-help manuals designed for each stage of change. One of these manuals corresponding to the current stage of change observed at baseline and at each follow-up assessment was mailed to a participant bi-annually after an assessment. If smoking stage did not change from one 6-month assessment to the next no manual was mailed at that time.

C: Usual care. Annual mail surveys constituted the only communication with the intervention centre.

Stage movement (stage based versus usual care): A significant effect favouring the stage based intervention for contemplators but not for ‘precontemplators’ at 1-year follow-up. At 2-year follow-up, no significant differences between groups were found.

I: Transtheoretical Model of Change-based expert system cessation programme. Each assessment and feedback section at each intervention session were provided in small, logically meaningful segments of the four Transtheoretical Model of Change constructs: (1) Stage of Change, (2) Decisional balance, (3) Processes of Change, and (4) Self-efficacy or Temptations to Smoke. Feedback is provided as text on the computer monitor's screen.

C: Action-orientated cessation programme; Original American Lung Association (1988) clinic program was shortened and modified into three sessions and altered for a Personal Computer monitor screen presentation. The feedback from the Action-orientated programme was predetermined and based on the assumption that the smoker was prepared to quit smoking. 

Stage movement: no significant differences between intervention groups.

I: General Practitioners and practice assistant received a 2-hr skills training, with an introduction on smoking behaviour nicotine addiction, stages of change theory, and behavioural change processes. General Practitioner provides brief behavioural counselling (10 min per patient) tailored to the smokers motivational stage. Follow-up meeting is offered to smokers setting a quit date. Those wanting to quit received Nicotine chewing gum.

C: Usual treatment.

Stage movement (stage based versus no intervention): Not reported.

I: The ‘Smoke Free Families’ intervention included stage matched counselling based on processes of change, self-efficacy, family support, and pregnancy specific content. Counselling provided by registered nurses during 2 home visits. First visit: stage matched tobacco control counselling plus booklet and video. Second visit: stage of change reassessed and counselling continued. 

C: Usual prenatal care.

Stage movement (stage based versus no intervention): No significant differences between groups.

I: Expert system, mailed materials including baseline feedback report based on baseline questionnaire and stage matched self-help manuals. At 3 and 6 months, progress questionnaires were mailed, followed by an expert progress report based on the questionnaires. N=1358.

C: Assessment only, proactively assessed at 6 month intervals. N=2786.

Stage movement (stage based versus no intervention): Not reported.

I1: Interactive expert system; 3 (0, 3 and 6 months) individualised computer feedback reports and a set of stage matched self-help manuals.

I2: Expert system plus counsellor calls; same as I1, plus 3 proactive counsellor calls at 0, 3 and 6 months, according to counselling protocol, based on expert system report.

I3: Expert system plus stimulus control computer; same as I1, plus smokers in contemplation and preparation stage also received Lifesign computers and instruction materials.

C: Assessment only (assessments at 0, 6, 12 and 18 months).

At 6 months: I1 and I2 > C and I3 (P<0.05).

At 12 months: I2 > I1> I3 and C (P<0.05), except 6 months prolonged abstinence.

At 18 months: I1 and I2 > C > I3 (P<0.05); except 6 months prolonged abstinence.

Stage movement (stage based versus no intervention): Not reported.

I: Nurse Practitioners’ procedure: determine stage of change for quitting tobacco; provide brief advise about cessation; recommend to set a quit date for those who are motivated to quit; explain about free, individualised smoking cessation counselling services available. Those interested in quitting received written health education materials; for those wanting individualised help, a health educator was available.

C: Routine care services, including: providing information about the health risks associated with using tobacco, counselling about the benefits of quitting, and discouraging the use of tobacco.

Stage movement: No significant differences were found between groups (data not shown).

I: "Kick IT" guide, a two-part "Kick It" video (Part 1: for precontemplators and contemplators to initiate a quit attempt, Part 2: for action and maintenance, providing instruction on how to quit, how to stay quit, and how to start over for those who did not initially succeed), a booster call (to encourage the use of intervention materials and provide brief motivational counselling), quit contract, and an invitation to enter two separate prize-draw contests - entry criteria for both was 30-day abstinence.

C: Previously developed printed health education materials related to substance use, HIV/AIDS, diet, heart disease, and cancer (but no materials that exclusively addressed tobacco use or tobacco-related cancers) and a 10-minute cholesterol education video developed for African Americans.

Stage movement: Not reported.

I: Staff from pharmacies attended 1 of 7 health promotion workshops held to explain the stage of change' model. Pharmacists tailored their advice to match the client's stage of change.

C: standard advice and support with respect to smoking cessation and nicotine replacement therapy’s.

Stage movement (stage based versus usual care): Not reported.

ALL: 3-5 minutes of counselling plus a self-help booklet at first prenatal visit and 7 booklets mailed weekly thereafter. Those smoking at 28 weeks gestation randomised:

I: One 20-30 minutes telephone counselling call using Motivational Interview strategies and techniques conducted within 2 weeks; a personalised stages of change based feedback letter mailed within a week following call; a final Motivational Interview -based telephone counselling call conducted 4-5 days after feedback letter.

C: Control group, no details reported.

Stage movement (stage based versus no intervention): No differences by stage were found between groups.

ALL: smoking guidance at booking at clinic.

I: A median of 4 home-based Motivational Interviewing sessions (range 2-5) from a trained midwife. ‘The strategy is matched to stage of change to help the client move on’.

C: normal care.

Stage movement (stage based versus no intervention): No differences between groups.

I1: Physicians were given two lectures on the stages of change model for cigarette smoking and received specific practice guidelines for clinical counselling on cigarette smoking cessation. 

I2: Physicians did not receive stages of change training but did receive a poster to be placed in the examination room to remind the doctor to conduct smoking cessation intervention in their clinic practice.

C: no intervention, i.e. physicians received no lecture, nor reminder and continued to practice in their usual style.

Smoking cessation: (stage based versus no intervention): Significant differences between groups for scores on quit rate, and change in daily cigarette consumption favouring the stage based intervention (I1) compared to no intervention (C).

Stage movement: Not reported.