Characteristics of tobacco users who call Quitlines by gender

Characteristics of tobacco users who call Quitlines by gender.

Terry Bush, Katrina Vickerman, Lisa Mahoney, Susan Zbikowski

Audience: Individuals at all levels of experience

 

Key Points: Despite their proven effectiveness and easy access, quitlines reach a minority of smokers (<10% in US, <1% in Europe). While smoking rates are higher among certain populations, only one study (using data from one state) has evaluated the reach of quitlines into diverse populations.

In this presentation, we report characteristics of 195,057 tobacco users (aged 18+) who called one of 15 state quitlines in the U.S. between January 1, 2005 and December 31, 2008. We describe quitline services offered, the personal and tobacco use characteristics of callers and the services they use (e.g. reactive or proactive phone counseling, web-based support, NRT). We describe gender differences in demographic characteristics and use of services.

Educational Experience: The audience will learn the history and value of quitlines and the types of data needed to make national and international comparisons of quitline access, utilization and effectiveness.  Understanding the characteristics of tobacco users calling quitlines and the types of services they use is a first step in discovering ways to further expand these services.

Benefits: The repository of data from this presentation serves as a proxy for tobacco cessation activity in various populations and can be used as a benchmark for future studies evaluating the impact of different tobacco control policies across countries. Comparing genders on demographics, tobacco use and intensity of treatment received can inform analytic strategies of studies that evaluate cessation outcomes.