Immediate and six-month effects of Project Ex Russia: A smoking cessation intervention pilot program

Abstract

article i nfo This study evaluates the performance of the Project EX tobacco use cessation program in Russian summer recreational camps. An eight-session clinic-based tobacco use cessation program for adolescents was tested during the summer of 2011 in an experimental pilot trial that involved different youth that rotated through camps. Conditions were nested within camps. Two rotations of unique subject groups of smokers (program and standard care control) through each of five camps provided the means of controlling for campsite by con- dition. Assignment of condition by rotation was random (by a flip of a coin), achieving reasonable baseline comparability (total n = 164 smokers at baseline, 76 program group, 88 standard care control group). Evalua- tion involved an immediate pretest and posttest and a six-month telephone follow-up. At immediate posttest, Project EX was moderately well-received, significantly reduced future smoking expectation (46% reduction in EX program condition versus 8% in control, p b .0001), decreased intention to not quit smoking (−5.2% in EX versus +1.4% in control, p b .05), and increased motivation to quit smoking (0.72 versus −0.04, p b .0001).