BERKELEY, Calif., May 26, 2009 (UPI via COMTEX) -- U.S. researchers say their
meta-analysis of studies found those who used online or computer-based smoking
cessation programs were more likely to succeed.
Dr. Seung-Kwon Myung, formerly of the University of California in Berkeley and
now at the National Cancer Center in Goyang, South Korea, and colleagues
identified 22 randomized controlled trials of Web- and computer-based smoking
cessation programs published from 1989 to 2008.
The trials included a total of 29,549 participants, 16,050 of whom were randomly
assigned to a computer-based program and 13,499 to a control group.
Ten studies used supplemental interventions such as counseling, classroom
lessons, nicotine replacement gum or patches, medication or quit lines, while 12
studies used Web- or computer-based programs alone.
The study, published in the Archives of Internal Medicine, found that when the
results of the trials were pooled and analyzed, individuals assigned to use
computer- or Web-based programs were about 1.5 times more likely to quit smoking
than those assigned to control groups.
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