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Using Geographic Information System (GIS) Technology to Access Accessibility of Smoking Cessation Class Attendance for Patients in Louisiana Public Hospitals

142nd APHA Annual Meeting and Exposition (November 15 - November 19, 2014): http://www.apha.org/events-and-meetings/annual
Tuesday, November 18, 2014

Tung-Sung Tseng, DrPH., M.S. , School of Public Health, Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center - New Orleans, New Orleans, LA
Ke Xiao, PhD
Qingzhao Yu, PhD , Biostatistic, LSU School of Public Health, New Orleans, LA
Michael D. Celestin Jr., MA, CHES, CTTS , School of Public Health, Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center, New Orleans, LA
Ronald Horswell, PhD , LaCATS Program, Pennington Biomedical Research Center, Baton Rouge, LA
Krysten Jones, MPH, CHES, CTTS , School of Public Health, Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center, Shreveport, LA
Yong Yi, PhD , Louisiana State University Health Care Services Division, New Orleans, LA
Sarah Moody-Thomas, PhD , School of Public Health, Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center, New Orleans, LA
Background:  Smoking cessation counseling classes and clinical treatments have been proven to improve smoking quitting rate. Louisiana Tobacco Control Initiative (TCI) provides evidence-based treatments among Louisiana’s public hospitals and clinics. There is limited research on the accessibility (e.g., distance to classes) of smoking cessation classes. This study was to evaluate the distance effect related to smoking cessation class attendance.

Methods: 4826 patients in Louisiana public hospitals and clinics were scheduled to attend smoking-cessation classes between 2005 and 2007. Among them, 3912(81.06%) patients have records on the distance to hospitals using Geographic Information Systems.

Results: 66.76% of the smokers scheduled to attend classes were female, 60.61% were white, and 37.12% lived in urban area. The mean age of the patients was 52.71, and the class attendance rate was 38.1%. Smokers who attend the cessation classes had significantly shorter distances to travel to hospitals (11.52 miles SD=11.26) compared to those who were scheduled but did not attend (13.32 miles SD=16.61). Logistic regression analysis revealed that shorter distances were associated with increased class-attendance rate, after controlling for other socio-demographic factors.

Conclusion: Utilization of cessation counseling classes was inversely related to the distance from residence to hospital among Louisiana public hospital patients. In addition, older, female, and white smokers utilized the services more often than their counterparts. Future research should examine ways/methods to improve the accessibility of cessation services to those smokers who did not attend or did not adhere to treatment.

Learning Areas:

Administer health education strategies, interventions and programs
Conduct evaluation related to programs, research, and other areas of practice
Public health administration or related administration
Public health or related education
Public health or related research
Social and behavioral sciences

Learning Objectives:
Demonstrate the use of Geographic Information System (GIS) Technology to Access Accessibility of Smoking Cessation Class Attendance for Patients in Louisiana Public Hospitals. Analyze the relationship between the accessibility (e.g., distance to classes) and smoking cessation class attendance using GIS mapping.

Keyword(s): Accessibility, Geographic Information Systems (GIS)

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: I serve as an evaluator for this project and faculty member in School of public Health.
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.

Back to: 4182.1: Methodological Advances in Healthography: Poster Session