Promoting Smoking Cessation in the United States: Effect of Public Service Announcements on the Cancer Information Service Telephone line

BACKGROUND: Although many smokers report making attempts to quit, few seek help or are successful in their attempts. Some of the barriers to seeking help can be overcome by a telephone counseling and information service like that offered by the Cancer Information Service of the National Cancer Institute. This service has been promoted by antismoking public service announcements produced by the Office on Smoking and Health, Centers for Disease Control, Public Health Service, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. PURPOSE: We determined whether such nationally televised public service announcements were associated with increased use of the Cancer Information Service. We assessed the importance of specifically promoting the telephone line and identified the characteristics of the individuals who responded to such promotion. METHODS: We combined the frequency-of-call data from the Cancer Information Service with the data on the frequency and reach of the television spots. RESULTS: During this 5-year study (1983-1987), the Cancer Information Service received a notably disproportionate number of calls in 3 specific months (August 1983, January 1985, and January 1987). In each case, more than 20% of all calls in that year were received in that month (expected percentage = 8% if the calls had been evenly distributed). These peak periods were associated with the showing of the three public service announcements that mentioned the telephone number of the Cancer Information Service. These promotions were particularly effective in increasing the percentage of callers who were male, who were under the age of 40 years, or who had received a high school education or less. CONCLUSIONS: Television is an effective medium for supporting antismoking goals by motivating more smokers to seek help to quit. IMPLICATIONS: It is important to identify whether the aid offered by the Cancer Information Service hotline is effective in helping the caller to quit. Future work must concentrate on the most effective strategies for using this initial contact to provide aid to prevent relapse, thus maximizing the potential impact of the public service announcement campaigns.