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The tobacco industry usually smiles as the undergraduate “Come on, give me your best shot” attitude toward lung cancer morphs into the “Just take me now” graduate student sentiment. However, these days the economy says lung cancer schmung cancer–quitting smoking is high fashion recessionista thrift. For those so inclined, a UC Berkeley study suggests that smoking cessation computer-programs are the way to go. And happily, they’re free.
In the past, such programs have been passed over in light of inconsistent results. However, UC Berkeley’s School of Public Health’s research resoundingly concludes the opposite, following a 19 year study of some 30,000 participants. In the study, 9.9% of those who used computer-based programs managed to drop tobacco, a rate 1.7 times higher than those who tried quitting on their own.
Computer programs are an alternative to traditional interventions such as telephone hotlines and counseling services, which are burdened by the apparently overpriced and overrated element of, you know, actual human contact. It’s the flexibility and the privacy of computer programs, smokers say.
Image Source: Isabel Bloedwater under Creative Commons.
Computer-based smoking cessation programs work, finds metanalysis [NewsCenter]
Tags:quitting smoking, School of Public Health, tobacco
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