Research 

Time 4 u 2 quit: Text messaging found to help smokers
A review of four trials conducted in New Zealand, Britain and Norway found that programs to help people stop smoking that included text-messaged advice doubled the chances that smokers would be able to abstain from smoking for up to a year. However, the studies found the majority of smokers taking part in the studies did not succeed in quitting, regardless of whether they had text-messaging help. Text messaging interventions consistently improved short-term cessation rates in the randomized trials that were reviewed, but further research is needed to determine whether text messaging yields long-term results. Click here for more details. Click here to read the review article in Cochrane Library, a publication of the Cochrane Collaboration.

Doubts on suicide-anti-smoking drug Chantix link
The smoking cessation drug Chantix, also known as varenicline, has been linked to reports of depression, hostility, and other behavioral changes, causing the Food and Drug Administration to warn about the drug’s side effects. However, new research in the British Medical Journal indicates that the drug does not significantly increase the risk of self-harm or depression compared to other smoking cessation drugs. The researchers reviewed the health records of over 80,000 British men and women who were prescribed varenicline, bupropion, or nicotine replacement therapy to determine whether any mental health problems arose during the use of the pharmaceuticals or within three months after the last prescription was filled. Read more here, or click here to download a copy of the BMJ article.

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Reports

New survey finds one in three sports fans smoke, five out of six smoke while watching sports
The results of a survey conducted by the American Legacy Foundation (Legacy) suggest that a majority of sports fans, 63%, are current or former smokers. Many (60%) are exposed to secondhand smoke while they watch or attend sporting events. The data showed that attending sporting events could also serve as a trigger to tempt current or former smokers to smoke. To fill this apparent niche for smoking cessation messages, commercials and signs advertising the EX national smoking cessation campaign will be aired on FOX Sports’ broadcast of Major League Baseball’s American League Championship Series (ALCS) and World Series. Advertisements for the EX campaign will continue on ESPN2 and in various formats through January. Click here for more details.

Most smokers make multiple quit attempts before they quit smoking for good
The American Lung Association (ALA) is launching a new smoking cessation campaign, “Quitter in You.” The campaign educates Americans that smokers are often unable to quit smoking on their first try, and that it is important to keep trying to quit. In fact, each time a person tries to quit, the person learns more about what to do and what not to do the next time. A new survey from ALA found that six out of ten former smokers were not able to successfully quit on their first try. The “Quitter in You” website provides expert support and ALA’s proven smoking cessation resources that have helped more than one million people quit smoking for good. Click here to read more about the campaign, or click here to visit the “Quitter in You” website. 

Smoking fee spurs workers to quit (GA)
Employees of Chatham County, Georgia who smoke are being charged an extra $20 per paycheck to help defray the cost of their health insurance premiums. Many county employees who smoke have found the fee to be an incentive to attend their employer’s free smoking cessation classes and quit smoking, especially considering the current state of the economy. The American Cancer Society is providing free training and materials to help county employees conduct the cessation classes, and about 60% of those who finish the cessation program are able to quit smoking. Read more here.

Gov. Beshear announces Kentucky joins innovative national effort to help smokers quit (KY)
Kentucky Governor Steve Beshear recently announced that Kentucky, a state with a long history of tobacco production, will be joining the National Alliance for Tobacco Cessation (NATC), a network of national organizations and state agencies that support the EX smoking cessation campaign. Bringing the EX campaign to Kentucky will help direct the state’s 807,000 smokers to smoking cessation resources such as the state quitline and the online community of smokers attempting to quit at BecomeAnEX.org. The EX campaign helps smokers prepare to quit by changing their beliefs about smoking, addiction, and what it takes to quit. Click here to read a press release from the governor’s office.

State cuts tobacco quitline funding despite tax increases (WI)
This month, smokers with health insurance who call Wisconsin’s state quitline will receive less help. State funding for smoking cessation and anti-smoking programs will see a 55% cut despite the recent increases in the state’s cigarette tax. The total funding for anti-tobacco programs was cut from $15.3 million a year to $6.9 million, with specific cuts to cessation programs, training and technical assistance for anti-smoking groups, prevention programs for minorities and youth, and anti-smoking advertising. Funding for the quitline has been cut by two-thirds, from $3.7 million to $1.2 million. Click here to read more about the budget cuts.

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International

Telephone recruitment into a randomized controlled trial of quitline support (Australia)
A new study conducted in Australia has found that active telephone recruitment has the potential to substantially increase the proportion of smokers using quitline services at a reasonable cost. The researchers also found that the method engages smokers who are currently under-represented in quitline populations. The study reports that only 1-7% of adult smokers use quitlines annually. In contrast, over half (52%) of the smokers who were contacted for the study decided to enroll in cessation support. Click here for an abstract of the journal article found in the October issue of the American Journal of Preventive Medicine.

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