Applying the quit & win contest model in the Vietnamese community in Santa Clara county.

OBJECTIVE To evaluate the effectiveness of modifying and applying a Quit & Win contest model to Vietnamese Americans. DESIGN Uncontrolled trial, multicomponent program, including two Quit & Win incentive contests, smoking cessation classes, videotape broadcasts, and newspaper articles. SUBJECTS AND SETTING Vietnamese smokers living in Santa Clara County, California. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES Contest participation rates and quit rates at six month follow up; saliva cotinine validation of quitting. RESULTS There were 57 eligible contest entrants to the 1995 contest, approximately 0.9% of the potential pool of smokers, and 32 entrants to the 1996 contest, approximately 0.5% of the potential pool. Overall, 48 of 49 (98%) individuals who said that they had quit smoking had validation of that fact by saliva cotinine testing. At six months, telephone follow up of 76 individuals revealed a self reported continued abstinence rate of 84.2%. CONCLUSION Modification and application of the Quit & Win contest model for Vietnamese resulted not only in reasonable participation by Vietnamese male smokers, but also good success in initial quitting and an unexpectedly high abstinence rate at six month follow up.