End-of-treatment smoking cessation among African American female participants in the Breathe Free for Women smoking cessation program: results of a pilot study.

Objective: Quitting smoking is particularly imperative for African American women due to their disproportionate rates of smoking-related morbidity and mortality. However, very few smoking cessation interventions have demonstrated successful quit rates for African American women. This study sought to examine the Breathe Free for Women (BFFW) smoking cessation lifestyle program among African American female smokers. The primary objective of the pilot project was to examine end-of-treatment quit rates, and the secondary objective sought to obtain feedback from African American female participants on the acceptability of the intervention in this population.

Methods: A total of 42 African American females were recruited to participate in 1 of 6 intervention cohorts. Each intervention cohort participated in 9 group sessions presented over a period of 4 weeks. Participants complete an investigator developed survey assessing current smoking status as well as impressions of each intervention session.

Results: An end-of-treatment quit rate of 19% was achieved with an average study retention rate of 70%. In addition, participants' feedback indicated that the BFFW intervention offers a highly promising model for enhanced tailoring by incorporating socioculturally relevant methods, materials, and content.

Conclusions: Future research must address the critical public health need for socioculturally relevant adaptations of existing and promising smoking cessation programs for African American women.