Smoking assessment through information technology

This chapter introduces a proposal for the role of information technology as a means of completing a comprehensive assessment of smoking behaviour. Smoking cessation is an important goal both in primary care and in healthcare settings. Results of the literature encourage the utilisation of self-report questionnaires to assess individual differences that could assist to develop stage-matched-intervention for smoking cessation. Reliable and valid measurement tools are available in this area, but comprehensive assessment procedures are not yet standardized. Computerized/web-based psychological testing procedures may provide relevant advantages, in comparison to traditional paper-pencil approach, in that they may guarantee reliable results through the standardization of both testing and scoring procedures. They may also allow creating a common database accessible to researchers from various healthcare organizations.