Research

Federal report: Increases in quitline calls and smoking cessation website visitors during a national tobacco education campaign
The National Tobacco Education Campaign released this year by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) was successful, according to a new report from the CDC. The evidence-based “Tips from Former Smokers” (TIPS) campaign ran for twelve weeks, and contained graphic images of real smokers suffering from tobacco related diseases. It was focused toward educating adult smokers about the health effects of smoking, encouraging current smokers to quit, and raising awareness that quitting assistance is available. During the campaign's run, March 19–June 10, 2012, there was a 132% increase in calls to the national toll-free quitline versus that timeframe during the previous year, and the number of visitors to the smokefree.gov website increased by 428% over the same period in 2011. These statistics signify 718,090 additional tobacco users who obtained assistance through quitline calls and visits to the website compared to this 12-week timeframe in the previous year. Click here to read the findings in the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR), and click here to learn more about the campaign.

Think about the future. Does it include quitting smoking?: Study
New research published in the journal Addiction concludes that smokers who think more about the future are more likely to quit. Researchers analyzed data from 1,817 smokers that participated in the national Household Income and Labor Dynamics database in Australia about their considerations about the future. Participants that planned more than three months in the future were grouped as having a longer horizon, and those that planned for a week or less were considered to have a shorter horizon. Among the smokers, 76% that had attempted to quit smoking were in the longer horizon category. Evidence suggests that those who plan further out into the future are more likely to want to quit. Click here to read more about this study. Click here to read the study abstract.

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Reports

Anti-smoking campaign hopes gift cards do the trick (CA)
Gift card incentives to quit smoking have been introduced in California. The California Diabetes Program and the California Department of Health Care Services have introduced the Medi-Cal Incentives to Quit Smoking (MIQS) Project. The Project offers a $20 gift card to Medi-Cal members (California’s Medicare and Medicaid program) who call the California Smokers’ Helpline and enroll in their free telephone-based support services. Medi-Cal members smoke at higher rates than the general population, and are at a higher risk for suffering from chronic diseases that are worsened by smoking. The hope is that the smoking prevalence among Medi-Cal members will decrease, especially among high risk members suffering from diabetes, heart disease and other chronic diseases. Click here to read a fact sheet about the incentive program from the California Department of Health Care Services.

Maine petitions feds to cut Medicaid funds for smoking cessation programs (ME)
The Maine Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) petitioned the federal government to get rid of Medicaid coverage of cessation drugs in an effort to balance the state budget. The DHHS’ decision to cut about $430,000 in anti-smoking medications provided under the state’s Medicaid program, called MaineCare, will also result in a loss of federal matching funds that will total $1.2 million during the 2012 and 2013 fiscal years. A spokesperson for the DHHS states that smokers will still be able to get cessation assistance through the state’s CDC-funded tobacco quitline, and pregnant women covered by MaineCare will still be able to get assistance. Many fear that the lack of access to medications will deter people from attempting to quit, especially the poor. Maine is the only state to propose this kind of cut this year, and the change was approved to take effect on September 1. Click here to read more.

North American Quitline releases new Quality Improvement Initiative Issue Paper
The North American Quitline Consortium (NAQC) has announced the publication of its sixth Quality Improvement Initiative Issue Paper, Quitline Service Offering Models: A Review of the Evidence and Recommendations for Practice in Times of Limited Resources. This paper aims to present evaluation and research data that can be useful in guiding decision-making regarding the funding of quitlines. In particular, it details ways to invest limited funding for quitline services most effectively and makes recommendations for the use of limited resources when determining service offering options. Click here to read this publication.

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International

Effectiveness of stop-smoking medications: findings from the International Tobacco Control (ITC) Four Country Survey
Data from a recent four country survey suggests that smokers are more likely to be successful in quitting smoking when they use cessation medications. Over 7,000 individuals over 18 years old from the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, and the United States were randomly selected and interviewed for the International Tobacco Control Four Country Survey (ITC-4) between 2002 and 2009. Participants who reported trying to quit smoking within one month of the ITC-4 interview and used cessation drugs (varenicline, bupropion, or nicotine patch) were more like to continuously abstain from smoking for six months compared to those who did not use cessation drugs. Those that refrained from using cessation drugs were more likely to be younger, racial/ethnic minorities, and lower income. Click here to read this study abstract published in Addiction.

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