Quitline Promotion to Medicaid Members Who Smoke: Effects of COVID-19–Specific Messaging and a Free Patch Offer

People who smoke are at increased risk of serious COVID-19-related disease but have had reduced access to cessation treatment during the pandemic. This study tested 2 approaches to promoting quitline services to Medicaid members who smoke at high rates: using COVID-19-specific messaging and offering...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:American journal of preventive medicine 2023-03, Vol.64 (3), p.343-351
Main Authors: Tong, Elisa K., Cummins, Sharon E., Anderson, Christopher M., Kirby, Carrie A., Wong, Shiushing, Zhu, Shu-Hong
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
COVID-19 - prevention & control
Hotlines
Humans
Medicaid
Smoking
Smoking Cessation
Tobacco Use Cessation Devices
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Summary:People who smoke are at increased risk of serious COVID-19-related disease but have had reduced access to cessation treatment during the pandemic. This study tested 2 approaches to promoting quitline services to Medicaid members who smoke at high rates: using COVID-19-specific messaging and offering free nicotine patches. The hypotheses were that both would increase enrollment. A California Medicaid mailing from October 2020 to January 2021 (N=7,489,093) included 4 versions of a flyer following a 2 × 2 design comparing generic with COVID-19-specific messaging and a no-patch with free-patch offer. The main outcome measure was quitline enrollments. Quit outcomes (attempted quitting, quit ≥7 days, quit ≥30 days) were assessed at 2 months. A subsequent free-patch offer was sent to all members (N=7,577,198) from April 2021 to June 2021. Data were collected in 2020–2021 and analyzed in 2022. The first mailing generated 1,753 enrollments. Response rates were 0.023% and 0.024% for generic and COVID-19-specific messaging, respectively (p=0.538), and 0.006% and 0.041% for no-patch and free-patch offers, respectively, the latter being 6.7 times more effective than the former (p
ISSN:0749-3797
1873-2607
DOI:10.1016/j.amepre.2022.09.009