Key findings

Health and economic benefits of smoking cessation

Smoking cessation is particularly important for short-term improvements in public health.
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Smoking cessation will reduce smokers' risk of tobacco-related morbidity and mortality in the short and long term.
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Quitting smoking will reduce the costs of health care, the loss of productivity, and other external costs caused by smokin
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Providing workplace smoking cessation coverage leads to health and economic benefits for both employers and insurers.
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Policies that promote smoking cessation are highly cost-effective, and are more cost-effective than many other government-financed health interventions.
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Higher cigarette prices reduce cigarette smoking by decreasing smoking prevalence and reducing the number of cigarettes smoked by continuing smokers.
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Increases in cigarette prices reduce smoking by more in low- and middle-income countries than comparable increases in prices in high-income countries.
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Higher cigarette prices induce smoking cessation among both young adults and middle-aged and older adults.
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Higher cigarette prices are effective in reducing the initiation of regular smoking.
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Cigarette tax increases are the most cost-effective method for promoting smoking cessation.
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Pharmacotherapy, including nicotine replacement therapy (NRT) and prescription drugs, is effective in treating tobacco dependence, increasing quit rates, and increasing long-term smoking abstinence rates.
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Use of NRT is a cost-effective cessation method. A comparison of the cost-effectiveness of NRT and other health care interventions shows that the use of NRT is either comparable or performs better.
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The demand for nicotine replacement therapies (NRT) is inversely related to the price of NRT products.
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The demand for nicotine replacement therapies (NRT) is directly related to the level of third-party coverage for NRT products, and inversely related to out-of-pocket costs.
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The availability of NRT, and the amount of NRT consumed, have decreased demand for cigarettes.
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The demand for NRT is positively related to the price of cigarettes.
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Bupropion is a cost-effective therapy in smoking cessation programs, among others.
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When smokers are exposed to higher amounts of advertising for pharmacotherapy, they are more likely both to attempt to quit and to successfully quit smoking.
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Adequate and sustained funding for comprehensive tobacco control programs is effective in reducing cigarette smoking.
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Comprehensive community based programs are cost effective in reducing tobacco use and improving public health.
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Even brief advice by a health care professional increases the probability of a smoker quitting and, as a result, this method is highly cost effective.
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Workplace smoking bans reduce both smoking prevalence and smoking intensity and, when self-enforced, these bans are highly cost effective. Workplace-based cessation programs constitute a good investment for employers. Including bupropion in a workplace cessation program is cost effective.
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Multiple call-back counseling improves long-term cessation for smokers who contact quitline services. Offering more calls may improve success rates.
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Television, radio, and print media advertising can all increase calls to smokers' quitlines.
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Offering free NRT through a state tobacco quitline may increase quitline utilization and quit rates.
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Cessation programs for patients with smoking-related health problems are very cost effective.
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Smoking in lower socioeconomic groups is more responsive to increases in price than smoking in higher economic groups.
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Reductions in smoking can reduce health gaps between the rich and the poor.
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Living in a deprived area can reduce the probability of quitting smoking.
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Individual smokers suffer deprivation as a result of smoking; one study found higher likelihood of smoking-induced deprivation to be positively associated with younger age, minority status, and low income, among other factors. Interventions to encourage cessation among disadvantaged persons are likely to enhance their material conditions and standards of living, and to reduce socioeconomic disparities in mortality.
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Higher cigarette taxes and other tobacco control efforts reduce smoking among pregnant women. Programs targeting pregnant women are highly cost effective.
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Smoking cessation programs can be cost-effective even in such hard-to-reach populations as itinerant building trades workers, provided that the program is adapted to their needs and environment.
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Younger (<16 years) and non-daily smokers experience a similar or higher prevalence of cessation attempts compared with older age (>16 years) or daily smokers. Older smokers appear to be much less likely to make a cessation attempt than younger smokers, but if they do, they are much more likely to quit successfully.
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Quitlines can effectively promote cessation across a wide variety of populations.
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