Telephone counseling for smoking cessation: Effects of single-session and multiple-session interventions.

quit kit plus 1 telephone counseling session, or (c) a quit kit plus up to 6 telephone counseling sessions, scheduled according to relapse probability. Both counseling groups achieved significantly higher abstinence rates than the self-help group. The rates for having quit for at least 12 months by intention to treat were 5.4 % for self-help, 7.5 % for single counseling, and 9.9 % for multiple counsel-ing. The 12-month continuous abstinence rates for those who made a quit attempt were 14.7 % for self-help, 19.8 % for single counseling, and 26.7 % for multiple counseling. A dose-response relation was observed, as multiple sessions produced significantly higher abstinence rates than a single ses-sion. The first week after quitting seems to be the critical period for intervention. Telephone counseling has attracted increasing interest as an alternative system for delivery of services in the field of smok-