A Safety Net Tobacco Use Cessation Resource: Quitline Service Usage, 2019.

INTRODUCTION: Quitlines are free, accessible evidence-based services that may provide an important resource for people facing barriers to clinical treatment for cessation of tobacco use. METHODS: Using 2019 intake data from the National Quitline Data Warehouse, we examined quitline service usage, stratified by sociodemographic characteristics. Only US quitlines reporting service type data were included (n = 40 [of 51]). Callers (aged ≥12 years) who registered with a quitline, reported current use of a tobacco product, and received at least 1 service comprised the analytic data. Chi-square tests examined differences in quitline services received by participant characteristics. RESULTS: In 2019, 182,544 people reporting current use of a tobacco product received at least 1 service from a quitline in 39 states and the District of Columbia. Among them, 80.4% had attained less than a college or university degree and 70.4% were uninsured or enrolled in Medicaid or in Medicare (aged <65 years). By educational attainment (aged ≥25 years), receipt of cessation medications ranged from 59.4% of callers with a college or university degree to 65.0% of callers with a high school diploma (P < .001). The range by insurance coverage was 59.3% of callers with private insurance to 74.7% of callers with Medicare (aged <65 years) (P < .001). CONCLUSION: Quitlines served as a resource for low-SES populations in 2019, providing cessation services to many people who may face barriers to clinical cessation treatment. Strengthening and expanding quitlines may help to increase cessation among populations with a disproportionately high prevalence of tobacco product use and improve the health and well-being of people in the US.

Tobacco Cessation Interventions and Smoke-Free Policies in Mental Health and Substance Abuse Treatment Facilities - United States, 2016.

Persons with mental or substance use disorders or both are more than twice as likely to smoke cigarettes as persons without such disorders and are more likely to die from smoking-related illness than from their behavioral health conditions (1,2). However, many persons with behavioral health conditions want to and are able to quit smoking, although they might require more intensive treatment (2,3). Smoking cessation reduces smoking-related disease risk and could improve mental health and drug and alcohol recovery outcomes (1,3,4). To assess tobacco-related policies and practices in mental health and substance abuse treatment facilities (i.e., behavioral health treatment facilities) in the United States (including Puerto Rico), CDC and the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) analyzed data from the 2016 National Mental Health Services Survey (N-MHSS) and the 2016 National Survey of Substance Abuse Treatment Services (N-SSATS). In 2016, among mental health treatment facilities, 48.9% reported screening patients for tobacco use, 37.6% offered tobacco cessation counseling, 25.2% offered nicotine replacement therapy (NRT), 21.5% offered non-nicotine tobacco cessation medications, and 48.6% prohibited smoking in all indoor and outdoor locations (i.e., smoke-free campus). In 2016, among substance abuse treatment facilities, 64.0% reported screening patients for tobacco use, 47.4% offered tobacco cessation counseling, 26.2% offered NRT, 20.3% offered non-nicotine tobacco cessation medications, and 34.5% had smoke-free campuses. Full integration of tobacco cessation interventions into behavioral health treatment, coupled with implementation of tobacco-free campus policies in behavioral health treatment settings, could decrease tobacco use and tobacco-related disease and could improve behavioral health outcomes among persons with mental and substance use disorders (1-4).

Geospatial mapping and resource utilization tool in support of a national smoke-free public housing rule.

OBJECTIVE: To advance public health support for the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development's smoke-free rule, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention collaborated with the Georgia Institute of Technology to develop a geospatial mapping tool. The objective was to create a tool state and local public health agencies could use to tailor smoke-free educational materials and cessation interventions for specific public housing development resident populations. RESULTS: The resulting "Extinguish Tool" includes an interactive map of U.S. public housing developments (PHDs) and healthcare facilities that provides detailed information on individual PHDs, their proximity to existing healthcare facilities, and the demographic characteristics of residents. The tool also estimates the number of PHD residents who smoke cigarettes and calculates crude estimates of the potential economic benefits of providing cessation interventions to these residents. The geospatial mapping tool project serves as an example of a collaborative and innovative public health approach to protecting the health and well-being of the nation's two million public housing residents, including 760,000 children, from the harms of tobacco smoking and secondhand smoke exposure in the places where they live, play, and gather.