Annual Population Reach of Tobacco Cessation Services in New York City

Tobacco cessation quitlines are effective in promoting quit attempts to reduce the health burden caused by smoking. Among state quitlines in the United States, annual population reach, defined as the proportion of smokers in a population who access quitline services, ranges from 1% to 7%, with an average of 2% to 3%. Variability in quitline reach is related to many factors including policy interventions (e.g. cigarette excise tax increases), operational issues (e.g. expanded hours), medication availability (e.g. free or discounted), and media campaigns (e.g. levels of expenditures). New York City's (NYC) comprehensive tobacco control program, launched in 2002, has prompted smokers to call City and State numbers to receive a range of cessation services. The combined population reach for these services in NYC was calculated for 2005-2007. Population reach was defined as the number of NYC-based calls per year divided by the number of adult smokers in NYC. Results show that from 2005 to 2007, NYC experienced a 2-fold increase in population reach, from 6% to 13%. NYC's current population reach is higher than other reports in the professional literature. Reasons for this increase include the expansion of the State media campaign and intensification of the City's in 2006, the availability of free medications throughout the year and during time-limited large-scale giveaway programs, and the cumulative effects of six years of comprehensive tobacco control, including two cigarette excise tax increases. Quitlines in other jurisdictions may be able to increase population reach by employing the strategies found effective in NYC.