What are the effects of telephone counseling for smoking cessation?

Abstract

More smokers receiving proactive telephone counseling might stop smoking at six months than those receiving self‐help materials or brief counseling, but quit rates are extremely low, and the clinically significant benefit of telephone counseling remains unclear.Moderate‐certainty evidence shows that among smokers contacting telephone helplines, probably more people receiving multiple sessions of proactive telephone counseling stop smoking at six months compared with those receiving self‐help materials or brief counseling in a single call (105 vs 76 per 1000 people; all results on average). Moderate‐certainty evidence shows that among smokers recruited from the general population via advertisements or during healthcare visits, probably more people receiving multiple sessions of proactive telephone counseling stop smoking at six months compared with those receiving self‐help materials or a cessation website (113 vs 91 per 1000 people calculated using median event rate).