Search

Objectives: We examined relationships between implementation of tobacco quitline practices, levels of evidence of practices, and quitline reach and spending., Methods: In June and July 2009, a total of 176 quitline funders and providers in the United States and Canada completed a survey on quitline practices, in particular quitline-level implementation for the reported practices. From these data, we selected and categorized evidence-based and emerging quitline practices by the strength of the evidence for each practice to increase quitline efficacy and reach., Results: The proportion of quitlines implementing each practice ranged from 3% (text messaging) to 92% (providing a multiple-call protocol). Implementation of practices showing higher levels of evidence for increasing either reach or efficacy showed moderate but significant positive correlations with both reach outcomes and spending levels. The strongest correlation was between reach outcomes and spending levels (r=0.80; P<.01)., Conclusions: The strong relationship between quitline spending and reach reinforces the need to increase quitline funding to levels commensurate with national cessation goals.

Objectives: This study was designed to better understand how the network of quitlines in the North American Quitline Consortium (NAQC) interact and share new knowledge on quitline practices., Methods: Network relationship data were collected from all 63 publicly funded quitlines in North America, including information sharing, partner trust, and reputation., Results: There was a strong tendency for US and Canadian quitlines to seek information from other quitlines in the same country, with few seeking information from quitlines from the other country. Quitlines with the highest reputation tended to more centrally located in the network, but the NAQC coordinating organization is highly central to the quitline network-thus demonstrating their role as a broker of quitline information., Conclusions: This first "snapshot" of US and Canadian quitlines demonstrated that smoking cessation quitlines in North America are not isolated, but are part of an interconnected network, with some organizations more central than others. As quitline use expands with the inclusion of national toll-free numbers on cigarette packs, how quitlines share information to improve practice will become increasingly important.