Telephone intervention in the treatment of smokers: a case report

In recent years demand for self-help interventions for smoking cessation has increased greatly, mainly because most smokers prefer to quit their habit by themselves. This has resulted in growing numbers of studies devoted to improving the effectiveness of these treatments. One such form is the telephonic intervention of support. This paper reports on the treatment of a case study -a 35-year-old female smoker- with a consumption history of cigarettes of 18 years, without previous attempts at quitting tobacco. The smoker asked for a self-help program by mail for smoking cessation. In addition to the program, she received a telephonic intervention of support, once a week, throughout the treatment (six weeks). The subject quitted smoking with the treatment and she maintained abstinent at three, six and twelve-month follow-up.