Most people who smoke want to quit, and about half have tried to quit. But a miniscule portion of them — only 9% — made a successful smoking cessation effort.
Success in cessation increases when smokers use “behavioral counseling” and related medications. But these and other proven smoking cessation policies and tools have limited reach for specific populations, making equitable implementation a key for future efforts, according to new research by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
A new report from the CDC details what existing approaches to smoking cessation are the most and least effective for different demographics. For example, those with the highest levels of educational attainment have much higher quit success rates than those with lower levels of educational attainment. White people saw higher rates of treatment use (43%), while treatment use was lower for those of other racial and ethnic backgrounds: Black people saw treatment rates of 33% while Hispanic and Asian folk saw treatment rates of 30% and 16%, respectively.
Also, those who smoke menthol cigarettes struggle to quit more than nonmenthol cigarette smokers. Between the two groups, menthol cigarette smokers have a higher interest in quitting (72% versus 65%) than nonmenthol cigarette smokers but show lower rates of cessation treatment use (35% versus 42%). Still, the two groups show similar rates of quit success — 10% compared to 8%. (All figures are for the year 2022.)
On top of the public policy issues, smoking has a national economic impact. Other CDC research finds that cigarette smoking costs the U.S. economy more than $600 billion in elevated health care spending and lost productivity due to first-hand and second-hand smoking-related deaths and illnesses.
“Opportunities exist for both public health and health care sectors to increase smoking cessation, including expanding access to and utilization of cessation services and supports,” the report states. “Incorporating equitable cessation strategies into all commercial smoking prevention and control efforts can help advance and support smoking cessation for all population groups.”
The report calls for expanding existing evidence-based strategies, such as retail regulation, smoke-free policies, quitlines, digital cessation strategies and cessation-focused advertising and marketing campaigns.
It also called for the expansion of barrier-free and comprehensive insurance coverage for smoking cessation.
“Access barriers to Medicaid treatment coverage, such as treatment duration limits, annual limits on the number of covered quit attempts, and requirements for prior authorization, are common,” the report states, adding that only 20 state Medicaid programs offer this kind of coverage.
Other research finds that, in recent years, tobacco use has been more or less stable and historically low. Still, it is a critical service in the B2B digital behavioral health space. In February, a startup called Spring Health partnered with 2Morrow Health’s behavioral-based smoking cessation program to bring it into the Spring platform. The more mature venture capital-backed digital behavioral health company Pelago has long had a tobacco cessation program that has shifted to an at-risk funding model. In April, the company launched a cannabis cessation program that will work similarly to its tobacco, alcohol, and opioid programs.