Smoking is the leading preventable cause of mortality in the U.S. While most smokers have tried to quit, without guidance or counseling few will succeed. To assist smokers who wish to quit, the American Lung Association of the Upper Midwest, in partnership with the Illinois Department of Public Health, developed the Illinois Tobacco Quitline. The Quitline is a toll-free, confidential service that connects smokers with trained counselors who can guide and support them through the quitting process. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the Illinois Tobacco Quitline. All callers during the past year were telephoned at least 6 months after their initial call. The interview asked about perceptions of the Quitline and subsequent materials, smoking behavior, and demographic information. 401 interviews were completed. Sixty-five percent of respondents reported cutting down (one-third of males and 41% of females) or quitting (one-third of males and one-quarter of females). No significant differences in smoking status were noted by gender or race. Tapering off, going “cold turkey,” and the nicotine patch were the most common methods used. All methods were found to be very or somewhat helpful by those who used them; the most helpful was the nicotine patch. Respondents found the Quitline telephone counseling helpful. Those calling 2 or more times reported significantly higher helpfulness ratings than those calling only once and reported significantly longer periods of not smoking than those calling only once. Leading obstacles to quitting were smoking habit just too great, made them nervous, withdrawal symptoms too bad, and smoked too long to be able to quit. Lack of family/friend support, worry over weight gain, fear of losing smoker friends, and cost were not major concerns. The vast majority of respondents who still smoke are receptive to calling the Quitline in the future if they decide to stop smoking. The vast majority of the Quitters would also call if they started to smoke again. Nearly all of the current smokers, as well as the Quitters, would recommend the Quitline to a family member or friend. Results of the study evidenced the effectiveness of the Quitline and provide suggestions to enhance future efforts at smoking cessation.
Lesson Objectives:
- To describe how Tobacco Quitlines work, the role they can play in smoking cessation, and how they may be evaluated. - To describe the evaluation results of the Illinois Tobacco Quitline.