Abstract
Background: Smoking continues to be a public health problem
worldwide. Smoking and tobacco use are associated with cardiovascular diseases
that include coronary heart disease, atherosclerosis, cerebrovascular disease,
and abdominal aortic aneurysm. Programs for quitting smoking have played a
significant role in reduction of smoking in the United States. The smoking
cessation interventions include counseling, nicotine replacement therapy,
buproprion therapy, and varenicline therapy. The success rates with each of
these approaches vary with clear need for improvement. Moreover, there is a need
for a robust theory that can guide smoking cessation counseling interventions
and increase the success rates. A fourth generation approach using multi-theory
model (MTM) of health behavior change is introduced in this article for smoking
cessation. An approach for developing and evaluating an intervention for
smoking cessation is presented along with a measurement tool.
Methods: A literature review reifying the MTM of health behavior
change for smoking cessation has been presented. An instrument designed to
measure constructs of MTM and associated smoking cessation behavior has been
developed.
Results: The instrument developed is available for validation,
reliability and prediction study pertaining to smoking cessation. The
intervention is available for testing in a randomized control trial involving
smokers.
Conclusion: MTM is a
robust theory that holds promise for testing and application to smoking
cessation.