7.5 Intensity of intervention
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An important aspect of quitting is the treatment structure or level of intensity of the interventions given to help each individual smoker to quit. Measures of intensity include the length of time of each contact, total amount of contact time, and number of person-to-person sessions. Cessation rates tend to increase with extended contacts and with the number of treatment formats (different types of counselling and educational interventions).38, 44 Low intensity interventions typically offered in Australia include brief advice from a doctor or other health professional and the Quitline service, although these interventions have the potential to be more intense depending on the time and depth of information and counselling provided. In Australia, there are three types of high intensity interventions. These are the Quitline program of callbacks for smokers during their quit period, group programs that have multiple sessions, and individual counselling involving multiple sessions with a doctor, nurse or psychologist. The effectiveness of all levels of interventions is improved by concurrent use of proven quitting medications.4, 6, 56, 57
As a general rule the more intense the intervention, the greater the likelihood of success of cessation for any individual.44, 56, 57 However, higher intensity interventions are usually more costly (to the individual, government, or other funder) and less likely to be available to all smokers. Therefore there will be a cost-benefit ratio for each individual method and level of intervention.
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