171240 Influences on adolescent use of the California helpline

Tuesday, October 28, 2008: 11:42 AM

William McCarthy, PhD , Health and Human Development Program, WestEd, Los Alamitos, CA
Barbara Dietsch, PhD, RD , Health and Human Development Program, WestEd, Los Alamitos, CA
Hong Zheng, MPH , Health and Human Development Program, WestEd, Los Alamitos, CA
Giacomo Bono, PhD , Health and Human Development Program, WestEd, Los Alamitos, CA
Hye-Youn Park, PhD MPH, MS , Tobacco Control Program, California Department of Public Health, Sacramento, CA
Background: The California smoking cessation helpline has helped thousands of adults to quit their habit. Use of the California helpline by adolescent smokers has been less well documented.

Data source: Stratified, random sample survey of in-school California youth, involving a 99-item survey about tobacco use in 2005-2006 (N = 29, 279 6th through 12th graders).

Results: Of all respondents, 37.6% had ever smoked at least one puff, and 7.8% had ever smoked daily. Quitting rates “in last 12 months” declined linearly from 59.4% (7th graders) to 46.9% (12th graders). Among exsmokers – those who had not smoked in last month but had smoked 100+ cigarettes previously – most (90.6%) reported quitting without the benefit of any cessation program. Among those who ever tried to quit, 3.7% [95% CI: 3.0, 4.5] reported using the California helpline. There were no differences in helpline use by sex or grade. However, Helpline use increased with increasing number of quit attempts: 3.2% quitting for first or second time, 3.9% trying 2-5 times; 4.5% trying 6-9 times; 11.0% trying 10+ times. Nearly 30% of students reported that their school offered a tobacco use treatment program (33.9% high school; 10.7% middle school). Also, students attending a school with an on-campus cessation program were more likely (5.9%, 95% CI: 4.3, 8.1) to report ever using the California helpline than students attending schools with no cessation program (3.5%, 95% CI: 2.5, 4.8).

Conclusion: Presence of cessation program on campus facilitates rather than hinders student smoker use of the California cessation helpline.

Learning Objectives:
Why use of the helpline is not adolescent smokers' first choice of way to quit smoking Presence of cessation program on campus facilitates rather than hinders student smoker use of the California cessation helpline.

Keywords: Smoking Cessation, Adolescents

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: I analyzed the data, wrote the results and drafted the abstract.
Any relevant financial relationships? No

I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines, and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed in my presentation.