Program and outcome findings from Pennsylvania's new Cessation Minimum Data Set

Background: Cessation is a priority program area with significant resource investment for the Pennsylvania Tobacco Prevention and Control Program. Since 2007, Pennsylvania Regional Primary contractors have collected and reported data on the types of cessation programs provided, number of program participants, and participant quit status. The creation of a standardized cessation minimum dataset (MDS) has increased the utility of cessation data by minimizing variations across regions in indicator wording and data collection protocols (particularly related to follow-up) and ensuring that cessation program and outcome information is comparable across programs statewide.

Discussion: This presentation will describe benefits of a client-level standardized statewide MDS, MDS development, protocol for implementation, and preliminary analysis of 6-months of client cessation data. MDS data will be used to answer program and outcome level questions, including: Who is enrolling in local cessation group and one-on-one cessation classes? Are some tobacco users being missed? Who completes classes and who doesn't? What are the most effective quit methods for various users (e.g., differences based on age, gender, education level)? Who remains quit at follow-up? What type of follow-up yields the best response? For those not successfully quit following participation in the local cessation program, what cessation resources do they access post-program? Are there differences in program “success” (quit attempts and sustained quits) based on the type of tobacco used? Is NRT the common factor in sustained quits? These analyses will help inform programmatic decision making at the local, regional, and statewide levels.