Rates and reasons: disparities in low intentions to use a state smoking cessation quitline

Abstract

Purpose: Little is known about population-level rates and reasons for low intentions to call the quitline, a widely available evidence-based smoking cessation treatment.

Design: This study is a secondary analysis of the 2008 Colorado Adult Tobacco Attitudes and Behavior Survey.

Setting: This is a population-based telephone survey of adults in Colorado.

Subjects: Study respondents (N = 1662) included current adult smokers who had heard of the Colorado QuitLine (QL) and did not report that they never intend to quit.

Measures: Outcome measures included intent to call the QL, self-reported reasons for not intending to call the QL, and knowledge of QL services.

Analysis: Descriptive and multivariate logistic regression analyses were used for each outcome variable. All analyses were weighted for complex survey design to represent the population of Colorado.

Results: Overall 45.6% of smokers intend never to call the QL. In multivariate analysis, Latinos (odds ratio [OR] = 2.5; 95% confidence intervals [CI], 1.4, 4.7), gay/lesbian/bisexuals (OR = 5.2; 95% CI, 2.4, 11.4), and those with no insurance compared with Medicaid (OR = 3.8; 95% CI, 1.1, 13.0) were most likely to intend never to call the QL. Perceiving no need for assistance (34.8%) was the most common reason for not calling.

Conclusions: A majority of smokers have no or weak intentions of ever calling the QL, with variation by subgroup. Reasons for not intending to call can inform targeted media campaigns to increase QL reach.