An expert system intervention for smoking cessation

The Pathways to Change system (PTC) is an expert system intervention for smoking cessation. Assessments are performed either by mail or by a telephone interview and each smoker receives a three- to four-page report that provides individualized recommendations matched to the individual's needs and readiness-to-change. The Transtheoretical Model of Change provides the theoretical basis for the expert system. Four different studies have demonstrated the efficacy of this intervention in a general population, with cessation rates of 22 to 26%. Furthermore, the difference between the groups was larger at each follow-up assessment point, indicating that the effects of the treatment increased long after the end of treatment. The studies involved two proactively recruited samples, demonstrating that a large proportion (85.3% and 82.5%) of the population of smokers could be successfully recruited into a smoking cessation program. Expert system interventions have the potential to have an extremely high impact on a total population of smokers. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.