Original Article

Year : 2020 | Volume : 8 | Issue : 1 | Page : 1 - 3

Evaluation of Tobacco Cessation Counseling Program and the Challenges Identified

S. Saravanan, K. R. Lenin1 Professor and Head, 1

Assistant Professor, Department of Public Health Dentistry, Mahatma Gandhi Post Graduate Institute of Dental Sciences, Puducherry, India

Address for correspondence:

Dr. S. Saravanan,

Department of Public Health Dentistry, Mahatma Gandhi Post Graduate Institute of Dental Sciences, Puducherry ‐ 605 006, India. E‐mail: subasarav20@gmail.com

Abstract

Background:

The prevalence of tobacco use is high in India, with nearly half of males and one‐fifth of females using tobacco in some form. An effort has been made to offer help to quit tobacco use among patients by initiating tobacco cessation counseling (TCC) services in our Institution. The aim was to assess the effectiveness of TCC program among tobacco users.

Methods:

The evaluation of the TCC program was carried out by reviewing of records enrolled from January 2014 to March 2016. The baseline information of the enrolled subjects was assessed for tobacco use status. The post-intervention follow‐up details of the current tobacco users were analyzed for quit status, and the tobacco quit rate was determined. Chi‐square test was applied for statistical analysis.

Results:

Of the 1472 current tobacco users, 95.9% were males and 4.1% were females. An overall quit rate of 5.2% was recorded with women having 2.73 times higher quit rate than men (P = 0.004). Losses to follow‐up were very high.

Conclusion:

A lower tobacco quit rate was recorded due to high losses to follow‐up. Integration of proactive follow‐up measures while designing the public health program is required, to overcome the challenge “high losses to follow‐up” and to achieve a better response and outcome.

Keywords: Behavioral counseling, challenges in tobacco cessation counseling, evaluation of tobacco cessation counseling, tobacco cessation counseling, tobacco quit ratechallenges in tobacco cessation

Financial support and sponsorship

Nil.

Conflicts of interest

There are no conflicts of interest.

How to cite this article:

Saravanan S, Lenin KR. Evaluation of tobacco cessation counseling program and the challenges identified. Int J Comm Dent 2020;8:1-3.