Immediate and six-month effects of Project EX Russia: A smoking cessation intervention pilot program

• We evaluated a Project EX tobacco use cessation program in Russian summer camps.
• The experimental pilot trial among teens included 3 data collection points (n = 164).
• At immediate posttest, Project EX increased motivation to quit smoking.
• At 6-months, higher quit rates were found in the intervention vs. control group.
• At 6-months, reduced nicotine dependence was found in intervention vs. control.

This study evaluates the performance of the Project EX tobacco use cessation program in Russian summer recreational camps. An eight-session clinic-based tobacco use cessation program for adolescents was tested during the summer of 2011 in an experimental pilot trial that involved different youth that rotated through camps. Conditions were nested within camps. Two rotations of unique subject groups of smokers (program and standard care control) through each of five camps provided the means of controlling for campsite by condition. Assignment of condition by rotation was random (by a flip of a coin), achieving reasonable baseline comparability (total n = 164 smokers at baseline, 76 program group, 88 standard care control group). Evaluation involved an immediate pretest and posttest and a six-month telephone follow-up. At immediate posttest, Project EX was moderately well-received, significantly reduced future smoking expectation (46% reduction in EX program condition versus 8% in control, p < .0001), decreased intention to not quit smoking (− 5.2% in EX versus + 1.4% in control, p < .05), and increased motivation to quit smoking (0.72 versus − 0.04, p < .0001). At the six-month follow-up, program subjects reported a higher intent-to-treat quit rate during the last 30 days (7.5% versus 0.1%, p < .05). For the subjects who remained monthly smokers at the six-month follow-up, Project EX reduced subjects' level of nicotine dependence (− 0.53 versus + 0.15, p < .001). The results were quite promising for this program, which included motivation enhancement, coping skill, and alternative medicine material. However, further research on teen tobacco use cessation programming in Russia with larger sample sizes, involving other locations of the country, and with stronger research designs is needed.