Two random samples of male smokers who had received either a standard brochure (n = 642) or a tailoring questionnaire for computer-tailored smoking cessation information (n = 642) were sent a questionnaire to measure smoking behaviour two years after randomisation.
Twenty-three percent of the male smokers in the tailored information group returned a completed tailoring questionnaire and thus received the tailored advice. The prolonged smoking abstinence was slightly, but not statistically significant, lower amongst those randomised in the tailored information group (12.5%) compared with the brochure group (15.6%) (OR = 0.77 (95%-CI: 0.56-1.06). The level of education and intention to quit smoking significantly predicted smoking cessation at follow-up (p < 0.05). The majority of the respondents did not recall whether and which smoking cessation intervention they had received at randomisation after 2-years of follow-up.
The current study showed no advantage of tailored smoking cessation information over standard self-help information amongst male smokers with a long term smoking history who participate in a lung cancer screening trial after two years of follow-up. However, the low percentage participants who actually received the tailored advice limited the ability to find an advantage.