Tobacco Cessation Among Users of Telephone and Web-Based Interventions - Four States, 2011-2012

Smoking caused an average of 480,000 deaths per year in the US from 2005 to 2009, and three in 10 cancer deaths in the US are tobacco related. Tobacco cessation is a high public health priority, and all states offer some form of tobacco cessation service. Quitlines provide telephone-based counseling services and are an effective intervention for tobacco cessation. In addition to telephone services, 96% of all US quitlines offer Web-based cessation services. Evidence is limited on the number of tobacco users who use more than one type of service, and studies report mixed results on whether combined telephone and Web-based counseling improves long-term cessation compared with telephone alone. Here, Puckett et al discuss the result of a survey of users of telephone and Web-based cessation services in four states to determine the cessation success of users of these interventions.