Commentary on Pardavila-Belio et al. (2015): Reporting on randomized control trials or giving details on how the cake was made--the list of ingredients and the implementation process

Knowledge, Attitudes, and Training in Tobacco Dependence and Cessation Treatment Among Nursing Students in Catalonia (ECTEC Study): Cross-Sectional Study

Nursing students are part of the future health labor force; thus, knowing their knowledge and participation in tobacco control is of importance. Multicentre cross-sectional study conducted to assess nursing students' knowledge, attitudes, and training in tobacco dependence and treatment at 15 nursing schools in Catalonia. We employed a self-administered questionnaire. 4,381 students participated. Few respondents (21.1%) knew how to assess smokers' nicotine dependence, and less than half (41.4%) knew about the smoking cessation therapies. Most (80%) had been educated on the health risks of smoking, 50% about the reasons why people smoke and, one third on how to provide cessation aid. Students in the last years of training were more likely to have received these two contents. Nursing students lack sufficient knowledge to assess and treat tobacco dependence and are rarely trained in such subjects. Nursing curricula in tobacco dependence and treatment should be strengthened to tackle the first preventable cause of disease worldwide.

Understanding how a smoking cessation intervention changes beliefs, self-efficacy, and intention to quit: a secondary analysis of a pragmatic randomized controlled trial

Although beliefs, self-efficacy, and intention to quit have been identified as proximal predictors of initiation or quitting in young adults, few studies have studied how these variables change after a smoking cessation intervention. To evaluate the changes in the beliefs, self-efficacy, and intention to avoid smoking and determine if these are potential mediators in quitting, following a smoking cessation intervention, aimed at tobacco-dependent college students. Single-blind, pragmatic randomized controlled trial with a 6-month follow-up. A total of 255 smoker students were recruited from September 2013 to February 2014. Participants were randomly assigned to intervention group (n = 133) or to control group (n = 122). The students in the intervention group received a multicomponent intervention based on the Theory of Triadic Influence (TTI). The strategies of this program consisted of a 50 min motivational interview conducted by a nurse and online self-help material. The follow-up included a reinforcing e-mail and group therapy. The smoking-related self-efficacy, belief, and intention scale was used to assess outcomes. Intention to quit smoking is partial moderator explaining 36.2% of the total effects in smoking cessation incidence. At 6 month follow-up, the differences in the mean scores of self-efficacy and intention related to stopping smoking were significantly higher in the intervention than in the control group. A multicomponent intervention based on the TTI, tailored to college students, positively increased the self-efficacy to avoid smoking and the intention to quit, suggesting intention as potential mediator of quitting.