Idaho Tobacco Cessation Program: Providing free cessation counseling to all Idahoans regardless of place of residence

This abstract describes the on-going evaluation of Idaho's statewide face-to-face tobacco cessation program. The goal of the program is to reduce tobacco use among adults, adolescents, and pregnant women, while providing a rationale for continued funding. Reducing the tobacco use prevalence remains an important public health issue.

Program reports and client data forms are collected by health district cessation coordinators and forwarded to Boise State University's Center for Health Policy (CHP) for entry and analysis. Staff from CHP contact consenting adult clients (n=1,921 in 2007) by phone at two- and six-months after program completion to determine current smoking status. Three attempts are made to reach clients at two months and five attempts are made at six months. Clients ≤18 years (n=612 in 2007) were excluded from the follow-up to avoid parental consent issues, though self-reported data regarding tobacco use status upon program completion are included.

During 2007, 2,227 individuals attended at least one tobacco cessation meeting and 1,447 (65%) completed the program. Overall, 810 (36%) persons quit smoking, of which 76 (9%) were pregnant. Another 895 (40%) reduced their tobacco use over the program, including 44% of pregnant participants. Total program expenditure was $495,496 or approximately $222 per client. The anticipated savings in reduced health care and other economic costs are estimated at $2,864,004, based on prior tobacco cessation-related savings. In Idaho this equals an average reduction of $3,390 in economic costs per person who stops smoking. Based on these results, it is recommended that the program be continued.