The impact of a regional smoking cessation program on referrals and use of Quitline services in Queensland, Australia: a controlled interrupted time series analysis

BACKGROUND: The prevalence of smoking in Central Queensland (CQ), Australia was higher than the state and national averages. A regional smoking cessation initiative (“10,000 Lives”) was launched to promote available interventions (e.g., Quitline). We investigated the impact of “10,000 Lives” on referral to and use of Quitline services. METHODS: We conducted an interrupted time series analysis using a segmented Poisson regression model to measure the impact of “10,000 Lives” on monthly referrals to, and use of Quitline services (counselling sessions and nicotine replacement therapy (NRT) dispatched by Quitline), in CQ compared to other areas in the state (control population). The control population included all regional areas in Queensland with a comparable smoking prevalence to CQ and similar access to Quitline's Intensive Quit Support Program. We calculated the changes in level and trend of outcomes in CQ relative to the change in the control area during the post-launch period of “10,000 Lives”. The models were checked for autocorrelation and seasonality and adjusted accordingly. FINDINGS: After the introduction of “10,000 Lives”, the mean monthly rate per 1,000 smoking population increased in the intervention area for each outcome; e.g., from 3(.)3 to 10(.)8 for referrals to Quitline, from 1(.)6 to 4(.)4 for initial counselling session completed. These results were validated by the controlled interrupted time series analysis which showed relative increases for each of these outcomes (238•5% for monthly rate of referral to Quitline per 1,000 smoking population and 248•6% for monthly rate of initial counselling sessions completed per 1,000 smoking population). INTERPRETATION: Our study demonstrates a locally coordinated health promotion initiative can promote and boost the referral to, and use of Quitline smoking cessation services. FUNDING: The research is funded by a collaborative research grant between School of Public Health at University of Queensland and Central Queensland Public Health Unit which is awarded by the Central Queensland Hospital and Health Service (CQHHS93907). The lead author (AK) is supported by a University of Queensland Research Training Scholarship and a Research Higher Degree Top-up Scholarship.