A study on smoking from IDIAPJGol, awarded as the best research by the European magazine of WONCA World

The European Journal of General Practice, the official journal of WONCA Europe, has recognized the article “Effectiveness of the spirometry-based motivational intervention to quit smoking: RESET randomized trial” as the best article published in this journal in 2023

Primary Care at the Institut Català de la Salut Camp de Tarragona has achieved an outstanding international recognition for a study on smoking that has been awarded as the best research of 2023 by the European Journal of General Practice, the official organ of WONCA Europe (World Organization of Family Doctors).

On May 15, the magazine distinguished the article titled “Effectiveness of the spirometry-based motivational intervention to quit smoking: RESET randomized trial”, on a stuty developed by the ISAC Research Group (Health Interventions and Community Activities), accredited by the Agency of Management of University and Research Grants of the Generalitat of Catalonia. The research team, made up of professionals from various disciplines such as Medicine, Nursing, Biology and Statistics, belongs to the Reus-Tarragona Research Support Unit of the Institut d’Investigació den Atyenció Primària Jordi Gol (IDIAPJGol) and the Quality Unit of the Territorial Management of the ICS Camp de Tarragona.

This study has been funded by the Health Research Fund of the Carlos III Health Institute (4R11/037). The clinical trial has had the participation of professionals from the 20 Primary Care centres managed by the ICS Camp de Tarragona. The objective of the work was to evaluate the effectiveness of a motivational intervention, based on information on lung function obtained through spirometry, to help quit smoking.

The study included 614 smokers between 35 and 70 years old, with no history of respiratory disease, who were divided into two groups. While the control group received the usual treatment offered in Primary Care consultations, the intervention group underwent spirometry and a detailed explanation of the results. After one year of follow-up, the intervention group obtained an abstinence rate of 7.8 %, compared to 2.6 % in the control group, thus tripling the odds of quitting tobacco (OR: 3.15).

This work has not only demonstrated the effectiveness of the intervention but has also made it possible to detect alterations in lung function that can be addressed with specific health actions. As a continuation of this line of research, the team plans a new study in collaboration with the departments of Economics and Medicine of the Rovira i Virgili University to confirm the effectiveness of the intervention through an economic evaluation model. This project has been submitted to a new competitive call from the Health Research Fund of the Carlos III Health Institute, currently pending resolution.

This award will be collected by the research group at the next congress of the WONCA Europe Conference, which will take place in Dublin in September, and highlights the research carried out in Primary Care at the ICS in Camp de Tarragona, especially in the field of smoking.

Reference of the study:

Martín-Luján F, Santigosa-Ayala A, Pallejà-Millán M, Rey-Reñones C, Villalobos F, Solà R; researchers of the RESET study. Effectiveness of the spirometry-based motivational intervention to quit smoking: RESET randomised trial. Eur J Gen Pract. 2023 Dec;29(1):2276764. doi: 10.1080/13814788.2023.2276764.