Summary
Asian immigrants to the U.S. smoke at higher rates than U.S.-born Asians. However, few programs exist to help these immigrants quit and little is known about their real-world effectiveness. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention funded the Asian Smokers’ Quitline to serve Chinese, Korean, and Vietnamese immigrants nationwide. This study examines service utilization and outcomes from the first seven years of the program.
From August 2012 to July 2019, the Asian Smokers’ Quitline enrolled 14,073 Chinese-, Korean-, and Vietnamese-speaking smokers. Service utilization rates and cessation outcomes were compared with those of an earlier trial (conducted 2004–2008) that demonstrated the efficacy of an Asian-language telephone counseling protocol. Data were analyzed in 2019.
Findings: Asian Smokers’ Quitline participants came from all 50 states and the District of Columbia. The main referral sources were Asian-language newspapers (37.2%), family and friends (16.4%), health care providers (11.9%), and radio (11.9%). Overall, 37.6% were uninsured, 38.8% had chronic health conditions, and 15.4% had mental health conditions. Compared with participants in the earlier trial, Quitline participants received one fewer counseling session but were more likely to use pharmacotherapy. More than 90% were satisfied with the services they received. Six-month prolonged abstinence rates were higher in the Quitline than in the trial.
The Asian Smokers’ Quitline was utilized by more than 14,000 Asian-language–speaking smokers across the U.S. in its first seven years. This quitline could serve as a model for delivering other behavioral services to geographically dispersed linguistic minority populations.
This study uses 2014 California Health Interview Survey (CHIS) data.
