Smoking Cessation Intervention in Adolescents Using Motivational Interview in a Children's Hospital in Turkey: A Pilot Study.

Objective: The aim of this study was to evaluate the results of the intervention with the "Motivational Interview" on changing the smoking behavior of adolescents in the "Adolescent Outpatient Clinic". Material and Methods: Thirty-two adolescents smoking at least three cigarettes per/day for the last three months were included in the study. The adolescents were interviewed twice with a one-week interval and then with two weeks interval. The motivational interview was conducted to help them quit smoking each time they came to interview. The adolescents were called by telephone three months after the last interview and were questioned on their smoking behavior change (how many cigarettes smoke per day). Results: The mean age of the adolescents was 16.4 ± 1.0 (min: 12.0-max: 18.0) years and 47% (n = 15) of them were female. Among adolescents 28% (n = 9) had a chronic disease. According to the statements of the adolescents three months after the last interview, 6.2% (n = 2) of adolescents quit smoking, and 50% (n = 16) decreased the amount of cigartttes smoked. A statistically significant association was found between the rate of quitting or reducing smoking and the frequency of smoking cessation intervention visits (p = 0.016) and the number of cigarettes smoked per day at first admission (p = 0.047). No significant association was found between the smoking reduction rates and the age of adolescents, the age of first experimentation, and the duration of smoking. Smoking reduction rate was found to be higher in patients with a chronic disease, a non-smoker family, female gender and regular attendance to school; but the difference was not statistically significant (p> 0.05). Conclusion: This study demonstrates that smoking intervention in the early period of smoking and the compliance to smoking cessation interventions may change the smoking behavior of adolescents. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]