Outcome research methodology of smoking cessation trials (1994-1998).

Although several reviews of smoking cessation trials have been published, none have specifically evaluated the adequacy of the studies' reporting practices in terms of describing the intervention and outcome variables used. This review evaluates the reporting procedures of 109 smoking cessation trials published in English language peer-reviewed publications from 1994 through 1998. MedLine and PsychLIT searches were used to identify potential studies. Each study was evaluated as to whether the following information was reported: (a) demographic characteristics, (b) pretreatment smoking variables, (c) study characteristics, (d) descriptions of the clinical trial, (e) follow-up procedures, and (f) posttreatment outcome measures. Although some areas of methodological strength were identified, inadequate reporting of pre- and posttreatment demographic and smoking variables was also evident. Based on this review, several areas in need of further research are identified and discussed. Lastly, consistent with other recent reviews of smoking cessation trials, this review concluded that the smoking field should consider delineating a uniform set of assessment and outcome measures and a minimum follow-up interval.