Increasing Tobacco Use Cessation: Reducing Client Out-of-Pocket Costs for Cessation Therapies

(2000 Archived Review)

These interventions include efforts to reduce the financial barriers that may keep people from using cessation therapies such as nicotine replacement, other pharmacologic therapies, or behavioral therapies including cessation groups. Services may be provided through the healthcare system or clients may be reimbursed for their expenses.

Summary of Task Force Recommendations & Findings

The Community Preventive Services Task Force recommends reducing client out-of-pockets costs for effective cessation therapies based on sufficient evidence of effectiveness in:

• Increasing use of the effective therapy
• Increasing the total number of tobacco-using clients who quit

Task Force Finding

Results from the Systematic Review

Five studies qualified for the review of this intervention.

• Use of cessation therapies: median increase of 7 percentage points (range: 6.5 to 28 percentage points; 3 studies)
• Tobacco use cessation rate (median follow-up time—9 months): median increase of 7.8 percentage points (range: 2.1 to 11 percentage points; 3 studies)
• All five studies evaluated interventions that reduced the cost of nicotine gum/replacement or provided it free-of-charge; three studies also provided access to a behavioral program for tobacco use cessation but differed in the involvement of this component in the intervention evaluated.
• Three studies provided nicotine gum/replacement free-of-charge while in one study the out-of-pocket costs to clients was less than one-fifth in the intervention group as compared to the control group.

These findings were based on a systematic review of all available studies, conducted on behalf of the Task Force by a team of specialists in systematic review methods, and in research, practice and policy related to tobacco use.

Supporting Materials

• Evidence Gaps
• Included Studies

Publications

Hopkins DP, Briss PA, Ricard CJ. Reviews of evidence regarding interventions to reduce tobacco use and exposure to environmental tobacco smoke. [PDF - 6.38MB] Am J Prev Med 2001;20(2S):16–66.

Task Force on Community Preventive Services. Recommendations regarding interventions to reduce tobacco use and exposure to environmental tobacco smoke. [PDF - 1.46KB] Am J Prev Med 2001;20(2S):10–5.

Hopkins DP, Husten CG, Fielding JE. Evidence reviews and recommendations on interventions to reduce tobacco use and exposure to environmental tobacco smoke: a summary of selected guidelines. [PDF - 4.10MB] Am J Prev Med 2001;20(2S):67–87.

Task Force on Community Preventive Services. Tobacco. [PDF - 3.63KB] In : Zaza S, Briss PA, Harris KW, eds. The Guide to Community Preventive Services: What Works to Promote Health? Atlanta (GA): Oxford University Press;2005:3-79.

More Community Guide publications about Tobacco Use

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Sample Citation

The content of publications of the Guide to Community Preventive Services is in the public domain. Citation as to source, however, is appreciated. Sample citation: Guide to Community Preventive Services. Increasing tobacco use cessation: reducing client out-of-pocket costs for cessation therapies (2000 archived review). www.thecommunityguide.org/tobacco/cessation/outofpocketcosts_archive.html. Last updated: MM/DD/YYYY.

Review completed: May 2000