Effectiveness of antismoking telephone helpline: follow up survey

Abstract

Objective: To evaluate the effectiveness of an antismoking campaign conducted by the Health Education Board for Scotland. Design: Descriptive survey of adult callers to a telephone helpline (Smokeline) for stopping smoking; panel study of a random sample of adult callers; assessment of changes in prevalence of smoking in Scotland before and after introduction of the helpline Setting: Telephone helpline. Subjects: Callers to Smokeline over the initial one year period. Detailed information was collected on a 10% sample (n = 8547). A cohort of adult smokers who called Smokeline (total n = 848) was followed up by telephone interview three weeks, six months, and one year after the initial call. Main outcome measures: Numbers of adult smokers calling helpline; changes in smoking behaviour, especially stopping smoking among cohort members; and changes in prevalence of smoking in the general population. Results: An estimated 82 782 regular adult smokers made genuine contact with Smokeline over the year, representing about 5.9% of all adult smokers in Scotland. At one year 143 of the cohort of 848 callers (23.6%; 95% confidence interval 20.2% to 27.0%) reported that they had stopped smoking, and 534 (88.0%; 85.4% to 90.6%) reported having made some change. About 19 500 (16 700 to 22 350) adult smokers, equivalent to 1.4% (1.2% to 1.6%) of the mean adult smoking population, stopped smoking with direct help from Smokeline. During the second year of the campaign (1994) smoking prevalence among 25-65 year olds in Scotland was 6% (2.0% to 10.0%) lower than it had been before the start of the campaign. Conclusion: The Health Education Board for Scotland's antismoking campaign reached a high number of adult smokers, was associated with a highly acceptable quit rate among adults given direct help through Smokeline, and contributed considerably to an accelerated decline in smoking prevalence in Scotland.

Quitlines in North America: Evidence Base and Applications

“…Overall, 1.1 to 1.7% of adult smokers called a quitline over the course of a year. These rates are slightly lower than those reported for England (4%) 5 and Scotland (5.9%), 13 although all are in the low single-digit range. Similarly, Glasgow et al 14 reported that 2.4% of HMO smokers used their quitline.…”

A telephone-based intervention to promote physical activity during smoking cessation: a randomized controlled proof-of-concept study

“…Quitlines have intuitive appeal for delivering services because they are cost-efficient means to provide evidence-based smoking cessation counseling, eliminate potential barriers to treatment access (e.g., lack of transportation, inability to pay for support), and can effectively reach underserved or disparate groups of smokers who may have difficulties accessing traditional forms of treatment [2][3][4]. Given the emergence of quitlines as the standard of care for smoking cessation counseling in the United States along with evidence that smokers are more likely than the general population to engage in other unhealthy behaviors (e.g., more than 90 % of smokers maintain coexisting unhealthy behaviors [5]) public health professionals have shown increased interest in expanding telephone-based services to address other health behaviors than just smoking [6].…”

“…Specifically, the SUTQ counseling was structured to engage treatment-seeking smokers in low-to-moderate physical activity programming by promoting daily steps (walking) and linking short bouts of physical activity with urge management training, thus integrating evidence-based physical activity promotion-and smoking cessation-related health messaging. Given the efficacy and utility of telephone-based services or quitlines to promote smoking behavior change for disadvantaged populations [2,4], this study used a proactive telephone counseling approach to deliver the multiple health behavior change intervention. We hypothesized that compared to a control group that received standard, evidence-based quitline counseling only, the SUTQ intervention group would have greater daily physical activity and lower smoking cue reactivity on their quit day.…”

Convergent validation study of the Contemplation Ladder for application via telephone in tobacco users

“…Both proactive 6 and reactive 6,7 telephone counseling, have been shown to be effective ways to promote smoking cessation in developed countries. Smoking quitlines are associated with increased 12-month smoking quit rates by approximately 30% 8,9 . In an Australian study, the effectiveness of a telephone callback counseling intervention was examined.…”

“…In a Scottish study, at one year, 23.6% of callers reported that they had stopped smoking and 88% reported having made some change. About 19.500 adult smokers, equivalent to 1.4% of the mean adult smoking population in Scotland, stopped smoking with direct help from telephone helpline 9 . In a wide-range of northern-hemisphere countries, telephone counseling improve smoking quit chance in comparison with self-help material (OR = 1.56) 10 .…”