The Effect of Motivational Interviewing on Smoking Cessation of University Students: A Meta-Analysis

Various strategies are used in the fight against tobacco, including quitlines, education campaigns, motivational interviewing, mobile applications, and smoke-free campuses. This study aims to analyze the impact of motivational interviewing on smoking cessation among university students through a meta-analysis. The meta-analysis was conducted following PRISMA statement. We searched multiple databases (PubMed, CINAHL, Web of Science, Cochrane Library, Google Scholar) to find relevant studies. We identified randomized controlled trials (RCTs) that used motivational interviewing for smoking cessation in university students and reported cessation rates. Two authors independently selected and assessed the quality of the studies, while the third author performed the final data analysis. After the literature search, we found 21 studies with randomized experimental-control groups that used motivational interviewing for smoking cessation in university students. Seven studies were excluded after data extraction, leaving 14 studies for meta-analysis. The studies with the highest weight and agreement with other publications in the meta-analysis were Harris et al. (2010), McCambridge et al. (2011), Prokhorov et al. (2008), and McCambridge et al. (2008). The estimated effect size for motivational interviewing (MI) was 0.741, indicating a positive association with smoking cessation.