Increasing the Reach of Quitlines Through Active Telephone Recruitment: Do Cold-Called Smokers

...Differ from Quitline Callers?

Tzelepis F, Paul CL, Duncan SL, Walsh RA, Wiggers J, Knight J. Nicotine Tob Res. 2012 Dec;14(12):1488-93. doi: 10.1093/ntr/ntr317. Epub 2012 Feb 17.

This study examined whether active telephone recruitment ("cold calling”) for enrollment in telephone quitlines reaches new groups of smokers. First-time quitline callers to the New South Wales Quitline were compared to cold-called participants who received telephone counseling from the electronic NSW telephone directory. Results showed that male smokers, older age groups, those living in nonmetropolitan areas, smokers who took longer to smoke their first cigarette after waking, consumed fewer cigarettes per day, and were less motivated to quit had greater odds of being referred to the quitline through cold calling. The authors concluded that active telephone recruitment (cold calling) enrolls new groups of smokers to quitlines, and suggest that the reach of quitlines could be improved if quitlines incorporated cold calling into their recruitment strategies.