Research

Use of and interest in smoking cessation strategies among daily and nondaily college student smokers
According to a study published in the Journal of American College Health, daily and nondaily college student smokers are interested in using different smoking cessation strategies. Researchers examined nondaily and daily smokers’ responses to an online survey about smoking cessation, and the results show that nondaily smokers were more likely than daily smokers to quit, but less likely to use assistance. Since nondaily and daily smokers are interested in different cessation methods, smoking cessation interventions targeting different populations should consider using targeted strategies. Read more here.

Mass media campaigns to promote smoking cessation among adults: An integrative review
Mass media campaigns were found in a recent review to be effective in promoting quitting among adult smokers as well as reducing adult smoking prevalence. The researchers conducted a systematic review to provide an update to two reviews published in 2008 and determine the effects of media campaigns on adult smoking. According to this article, sufficient population exposure is vital for lower socioeconomic status smokers, who are most effectively reached via television. Messages relating to negative health effects were also found to be most effective at increasing knowledge and prompting quitting behavior, and may contribute to reductions in socioeconomic disparities in smoking compared to other message types. The researchers suggest that mass media campaigns to promote quitting are important investments in tobacco control programs but campaign reach, intensity, duration, and message type may influence success. Click here to see the abstract of the study published in the journal Tobacco Control.

Interventions to increase smoking cessation at the population level: How much progress has been made in the last two decades?
A recent review of the smoking cessation literature published between 1991 and 2010 revealed that there has been no consistent increase in the country’s cessation rates (percentage of smokers who quit smoking for at least 3 months in the past year). The researchers believe that despite innovations in pharmacotherapy and treatments, the field of cessation has failed to determine how to get more smokers to try to quit, and to try to quit more frequently. The authors conclude that future research should explore whether increasing the percentage of smokers actively making quit attempts would positively contribute to the population’s cessation rate. Click here to read the study abstract in Tobacco Control.

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Reports

Multi-State Collaborative launches new website
Multi-State Collaborative for Health Systems Change, a network of organizations working to support changes in healthcare to address tobacco use, has announced the launch of its new website. The site has several new sections including: 1) a health systems page offering evidence for systems change, 2) a policy page featuring sections on cessation insurance coverage and recent or evolving federal policies that impact tobacco use interventions in healthcare, 3) a practice showcase with examples of interventions from state members, as well as pages with past webinars, reports, and forums for posting questions or comments. Click here to see the new website.

Debut of graphic CDC anti-smoking ads is followed by a boom in calls to quitline
Only two weeks after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) released its “Tips from Former Smokers” campaign, calls to a national quitline have more than doubled. Between March 12, 2012 and March 18, 2012, the quitline had 14,437 calls compared to 34,413 calls between March 26, 2012 and April 1, 2012. CDC Director Thomas R. Frieden believes that the increase in calls to the quitline illustrates that the campaign will help smokers quit. Click here to read more.

News from NCI about new Smokefree.gov websites
The National Cancer Institute has launched the Smokefree Teen website with smoking cessation information for teenagers, and new content is continuing to be added. A Spanish version of the smokefree.gov website is also available to help Spanish speakers quit smoking.

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