Proactive Telephone Counseling With Rural Smokeless Tobacco Users

Smokeless Tobacco (ST) users have not been the focus of tobacco control campaigns in Minnesota. However, there are a significant number of adults in Minnesota who regularly use ST. There is a need for a low-cost cessation program that can be widely delivered to ST users who may have little or no access to conventional and/or group treatments. Self-help interventions can make a significant contribution in reaching this population. The telephone provides a unique low-cost delivery system that can expand the reach of a self-help cessation program to underserved groups of tobacco users. The primary objective is to evaluate the effectiveness of telephone-based counseling in promoting smokeless tobacco cessation among Minnesota residents. It is hypothesized that a greater proportion of individuals assigned to the telephone calling group will quit their use of smokeless tobacco products and all tobacco products compared to the comparison group not receiving calls. We plan to recruit 400 smokeless tobacco users who are interested in quitting their use of smokeless tobacco and randomize them to telephone counseling for smokeless tobacco cessation or to a comparison group that receives the same mailed self-help materials. All subjects will be assessed pre-intervention, and at 3- and 6-months.