Table 1 Baseline characteristics of participants by treatment group

Male sex, n (%)

212 (46.7)

220 (48.7)

211 (47.4)

Age (years), mean (SD)

50.74 (10.23)

50.92 (10.33)

51.68 (10.42)

Macedonian ethnicity, n (%)

384 (84.6)

366 (81.0)

376 (84.5)

Employment, n (%)

 Employed

303 (66.7)

309 (68.4)

296 (66.5)

 Unemployed

48 (10.6)

52 (11.5)

50 (11.2)

 Retired

64 (14.1)

68 (15.0)

75(16.9)

 Unable to work

35 (7.7)

22 (4.9)

21 (4.7)

Cigarettes smoked per day, mean (SD)

20 (10)

19 (10)

19 (11)

Roll cigarettes per day, n (%)

 0

279 (61.5)

268 (59.3)

272 (61.1)

 1–10

9 (2.0)

7 (1.6)

5 (1.1)

 11–20

35 (7.7)

38 (8.4)

35 (7.9)

 ≥ 21

28 (6.2)

36 (8.0)

24 (5.4)

Serious quit attempts, n (%)

 Yes

236 (52.0)

235 (52.0)

251 (56.4)

No. serious attempts, n (%) of people making serious attempt

 0

1 (0.4)

0 (0)

3 (1.2)

 1–10

229 (97.0)

231 (98.3)

240 (95.6)

 > 11

3 (2.5)

2 (0)

3 (1.1)

Motivated to quit, n (%)

29 (6.4)

27 (6.0)

23 (5.2)

Fagerström test for nicotine dependence (FTND) score, mean (SD)

5.09 (2.3)

5.05 (2.3)

4.88 (2.3)

Co-morbidities, n (%)

268 (59)

298 (66)

262 (59)

Income (MKD), n (%)

 < 10,000

41 (9.0)

40 (8.9)

29 (6.5)

 10,000–19,999

122 (26.9)

129 (28.5)

132 (29.7)

 20,000–29,999

101 (22.3)

84 (18.6)

108 (24.3)

 > 30,000

92 (20.3)

103 (22.8)

85 (19.1)

 Prefer not to say

96 (21.2)

92 (20.3)

89 (20.0)

Living in a City^a, n (%)

358 (78.9)

342 (75.7)

333 (74.8)

Education level, n (%)

 No formal qualifications

4 (0.9)

4 (0.9)

5 (1.1)

 Primary

68 (15.0)

79 (17.5)

74 (16.6)

 Secondary

244 (53.7)

238 (52.7)

245 (55.1)

 Tertiary

71 (15.6)

77 (17.0)

59 (13.3)

 Visho level^b

45 (9.9)

41 (9.1)

46 (10.3)

 Postgraduate degree

21 (4.6)

11 (2.4)

13 (2.9)

 Other

1 (0.2)

2 (0.4)

2 (0)