The WI-PREPARE leverages pre-existing questions from other instruments like the Fagerström Test of Nicotine Dependence (FTND) and the Wisconsin Inventory of Smoking Dependence Motives (WISDM-68).

Three of the WI-PREPARE questions are nothing new—strength of cravings, time to first cigarette in the morning and total cigarettes smoked. But the other four are demographic questions quite novel for a short, relapse-proneness questionnaire that assesses more than just tobacco dependence. They include questions about participants’ exposure to other smokers, smoking restrictions in the participants’ homes and workplaces, as well as education level.

Those three novel questions—especially the one pertaining to education level—allowed the WI-PREPARE to predict relapse better than the FTND, the standard tool. Both questionnaires are less effective at predicting relapse six months after the quit date, but still offer some predictive value long-term. This drop-off could be due to stressors that pop up in participants’ lives.

“Life happens,” said co-author Megan Piper. “At this point, I think the WI-PREPARE is the best you can do with a baseline static prediction.” Dan Bolt, PhD, UW-CTRI’s expert statistician and lead author on the study, used complicated equations to finetune the optimal questions for WI-PREPARE. Other co-authors included former UW-CTRI students Danielle McCarthy and Sandra Japuntich as well as Mike Fiore, Stevens Smith and Tim Baker.