A Community-Wide Smoking Cessation Program: Quit and Win 1998 in Olmsted County

Background. Quit and Win is a community-wide stop smoking contest to help cigarette smokers stop smoking and educate the general public concerning smoking hazards. Methods. All community residents, 15 years of age or older, were eligible to participate in either the stop smoking contest or the supporter contest. A random telephone survey to local households was conducted before and after the Quit and Win contest to assess the level of knowledge and attitude changes about smoking. Results. Of the 304 smokers enrolled in the contest, 42% self-reported continuous tobacco abstinence for the 4-week contest period and 11% were abstinent at 1 year postcontest. Significant predictors for tobacco abstinence during the contest were formal education beyond high school, absence of other smokers in the household, having a support person enrolled in the support person contest, and the type of relationship that the support person had with their smoker. Survey results showed that this contest changed some local attitudes and increased general knowledge of smoking hazards. Conclusions. Community-wide stop smoking contests can be used to engage smokers and their support in the community and can be successful in reducing tobacco use.