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Prof. Marijn de Bruin (IQ Health) leads a research program (IC-Smoke) on the effectiveness and effective elements of programs to help people quit smoking. In this study, he shows that a new method of summarizing scientific evidence leads to a much better understanding of how effective different smoking cessation interventions are.
In the most recent IC-Smoke study now published in Addiction, De Bruin innovatively summarizes the evidence from more than 170 randomized intervention studies. The innovation is as follows: in effectiveness studies concerning lifestyle interventions, such as new smoking cessation intervention, smokers are assigned to an intervention or control group. The intervention group receives the new program and the control group "something else," after which smoking behavior is compared 6 or 12 months later. Literature reviews and meta-analyses generally ignore what happens in that control group: they only look at the intervention program. However, De Bruin's work shows that this is unwise: people in the control groups also often receive some form of smoking cessation counseling. That control group counseling, this research shows, is also effective and varies greatly between studies: in some studies the control group receives a leaflet and in others seven group interventions lasting an hour and a half.
It also appears that more sophisticated, more expensive interventions (e.g., more intensive, long-term group counseling by trained psychologists) tend to be compared with more sophisticated and thus more effective control group interventions. As a result, simple interventions and more sophisticated interventions appear to be equally effective. But when controlling for differences in control groups, it is clear that sophisticated smoking cessation interventions are more effective than self-help or brief counseling sessions.
These results have implications for cost-effectiveness modeling and policy about which interventions to offer. Prof. De Bruin plans to apply the method to other lifestyle behaviors as well, so we can make much better use of the evidence that already exists.
For the publication, see Estimating the true effectiveness of smoking cessation interventions under variable comparator conditions: A systematic review and meta-regression - Kraiss - 2023 - Addiction - Wiley Online Library