Kiosk Acts as a Bilingual Decision Aid for Quitting Smoking

A kiosk located in safety-net clinics and health fairs can aid Hispanic and other smokers in setting a quit date and choosing effective treatments. A study in the May issue of the Journal of Health Care for the Poor and Underserved showed how the kiosk can address language barriers and extend outreach to non-English speaking smokers.

“The kiosk can reach a significant number of Latino smokers, who are usually even less likely to benefit from evidence-based smoking cessation resources (quit lines and medications) compared to other ethnic groups,” said lead author A. Paula Cupertino, Ph.D. However, she said it also could help uninsured and underserved smokers in the general population.

The kiosk asked participants about their smoking behaviors and provided informational printouts. About 80 percent of participants walked away from the kiosk planning to quit at a specific time within a month. One hundred twenty-eight smokers participated in the study and 30 percent of them chose to receive the information in Spanish.

With the kiosk, 95.3 percent opted for medication with nicotine patches or bupropion and 70.3 percent requested the quit line. Two months later, researchers called participants to follow up: 63.7 percent said they had used pharmacotherapy; 15.7 percent had used the quit line; and 20.2 percent were smoke-free for one week. Those who still smoked had reduced the number of cigarettes from about 14 cigarettes a day down to about seven.

“The kiosk and intervention appeared to be very well-received and could be an important addition to the way in which we share information about cessation treatment with smokers,” said Emily Burns, M.D., an assistant professor in epidemiology at the University of Colorado School of Public Health in Denver.

http://www.cfah.org/hbns/archives/getDocument.cfm?documentID=22253

National Working Group for ACTTION

Partnership for Prevention

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