182764 A web-based smoking cessation program for young adult women in Korea

Tuesday, October 28, 2008

Ji-Young An, PhD, MPH, RN , College of Nursing, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, Newark, NJ
Taemin Song, PhD , Health Information Center, Korea Institute for Health and Social Affairs, Seoul, South Korea
Laura L. Hayman, PhD, RN, FAAN , College of Nursing and Health Sciences, University of Massachusetts-Boston, Boston, MA
Background: Research indicates that young adult Korean women are less likely to smoke than their counterparts in other countries; however, among female teens smoking increased five-fold, from about 1% in 1990 to 5.7% in 2007 with higher rates observed (9.5%) among 18-19 year olds. Since January 2002, the Korean government has implemented a web-based smoking cessation program.

Objective: This study was designed to evaluate the effectiveness of the program that was conceptualized within the framework of Bandura's social cognitive theory and self-efficacy.

Methods: Preliminary analysis using minimal data extracted from the database was conducted.

Results: As of July 31, 2006, a total of 119,421 participated in the program; 66% (n=78,681) completed the program. Data obtained from a sub-sample of young adult women aged 18 to 24 years (n=721) were included in this analysis. Variables examined included: age, number of cigarettes currently smoked per day, behavioral and psychosocial variables relevant to smoking (types of smoking behavior, level of self-reported stress, and successful smoking cessation for 30 days and 60 days). Descriptive statistics and binary logistic regression were conducted. The average age was 21.64 years (S.D.=1.94); average number of cigarettes per day was 14.21 (S.D.=10.81). The smoking cessation rate was 4.2% (n=30) for 30 days and 2.4% (n=17) for 60 days. Age and number of cigarettes currently smoked per day did not have any significant effect on smoking cessation for 30 days and 60 days. Level of stress and types of smoking behavior could not be analyzed because of high percentages of missing data.

Conclusions: The results support the continued development of web-based interactive smoking cessation programs for young adult women. However, since the cessation rates of women are lower than those of men, defining the factors that influence successful web-based smoking cessation strategies for young adult women merit additional research.

Learning Objectives:
At the end of this session, the participant will be able to: 1) Discuss the application of Bandura’s social cognitive theory and self efficacy in designing web-based interactive smoking cessation programs for young adult women, 2) Evaluate the impact of web-based interactive health behavior change programs for smoking cessation, and lastly 3) Define areas for future population-based research targeting web-based interventions for smoking cessation for young adult Korean women.

Keywords: Internet, Smoking Cessation

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: I have worked for the project for years; therefore, I am knowledgeable about the content. Lastly I developed this abstract.
Any relevant financial relationships? No

I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines, and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed in my presentation.

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