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Statistics on smoking cessation services in England, April to December 2001

  • Published date:
    9 May 2002

This statistical press release presents provisional results from the monitoring of the smoking cessation services. These services were launched in the Health Action Zones in 1999/00, and were set up in all Health Authorities in England in 2000/01. Monitoring has continued in all Health Authorities in 2001/02.

The key results show that, in England, during the period April to December 2001:

  • Around 153,000 people set a quit date through the smoking cessation services.
  • At the 4 week follow-up around 79,100 had successfully quit (based on self-report), 52% of those setting a quit date.
  • Of those setting a quit date, the majority (80%) were aged 18-59; 1% were aged under 18 and 19% were aged 60 and over.
  • The majority of people received Nicotine Replacement Therapy (NRT) or bupropion (Zyban). Around 58% of people received NRT only, around 23% received bupropion only, and around 2% received both NRT and bupropion.
  • The expenditure on smoking cessation services, which does not include the cost of NRT or bupropion on prescription, was £16.7 million.

Some tables giving more details of these results are attached.

Produced by the Government Statistical Service

Notes to editors

  1. Press Copies of the Statistical Press Release, 'Statistics on smoking cessation services in the Health Authorities in England, April to December 2001 are available from: the Department of Health Press Office, tel: 020 7210 5221. It will also be available as soon as practical after 9.30am on 9 May 2002 from the Department of Health's web site at: http://www.doh.gov.uk/public/stats1.htm
  2. The White Paper, 'Smoking Kills', was published in December 1998 outlining the Government's policies on smoking. This contained three key targets: young people's smoking; adult smoking; and pregnant women. The establishment of smoking cessation services in the NHS is an important element of the Government's strategy for tackling smoking in recognition that many smokers want to stop, but find it hard to do so. This policy has been more recently restated in the NHS Plan and the NHS Cancer Plan.
  3. Smoking cessation services were launched in the Health Action Zones in 1999/00, with services rolled out across the NHS in 2000/01. In the three years up to and including 2001/02, £53m has been made available for these services with a further substantial amount for Nicotine Replacement Therapy (NRT) and bupropion (Zyban) on NHS prescription. A further £20m has been made available for the smoking cessation services in 2002/03.
  4. Final figures for 2000/01 were published as a Statistical Bulletin on 5 December 2001; this Statistical Bulletin is available on the web site http://www.doh.gov.uk/public/sb0132.htm. A statistical press release presenting provisional results for April 2001 to September 2001 was published on 14 February 2002. Today's statistical press release is available on the web site http://www.doh.gov.uk/public/stats1.htm. A Statistical Bulletin giving results for 2001/02 is planned for publication later this year.
  5. A Statistical Bulletin presenting information from a variety of sources on smoking titled 'Statistics on smoking: England, 1978 onwards' was published on 20 July 2000. Copies of this bulletin are available from: Department of Health, PO Box 777, London SEI 6XH, Tel: 0871 555 455 and Fax: 01623 724 524. Press copies are available from the Department of Health Press Office, tel: 020 7210 5221. It is also available on the Department of Health web site: www.doh.gov.uk/public/sb0017.htm
  6. The telephone number for the NHS smoking helpline is 0800 169 0 169. The telephone number for the NHS pregnancy smoking helpline is 0800 169 9 169.

Table 1  Outcome at 4 weeks (based on self-report) of people setting a quit date in the period April to December 2001 by gender

England  Numbers%%%
 TotalMalesFemalesTotalMalesFemales
Total number

setting a

quit date

153,00766,40886,5991004357
People who had

successfully

quit at

4 week follow-up

(self-report)

79,05135,15943,892524456
People who

had not

quit at 4 week

follow-up

(self-report)

39,94016,47723,463264159
People not

known/lost to

follow up

34,01614,77219,244224357
Number who had

successfully quit

where CO

validation

was attempted

at 4 week

follow-up

(self-report),

where

CO validation was

attempted

57,85625,81832,038384555
Number who

undertook CO

validation and

were confirmed

as not

smoking

51,51522,89728,618344456

Notes:

  1. A client is counted as having successfully quit smoking at the 4 week follow-up if he/she has not smoked at all since two weeks after the quit date. The figures presented here are based on self-report of smoking status by the client at the 4 week follow-up.
  2. The above figures include 2,649 pregnant women setting a quit date, of whom 1,321 (50%) had successfully quit (based on self-report) at the 4 week follow-up.
  3. Carbon Monoxide (CO) validation measures the level of carbon monoxide in the bloodstream and provides an indication on the level of use of tobacco. CO monitoring is offered to clients as a tool to aid smoking cessation.
  4. It is generally accepted that it is good practice to carry out CO monitoring due to its usefulness as a motivational tool for clients. However, smoking cessation services did not attempt CO validation on all people who had successfully quit at the 4 week follow-up (self-report).

Table 2  Outcome at 4 weeks (based on self-report) of people setting a quit date in the period April to December 2001, by age

England    %%%
 TotalUnder

18

18-5960+Under

18

18-5960+
Total number

setting a

quit date

153,0071,193122,97228,84218019
People who had

successfully quit

at a 4 week follow

up (self-report)

79,05142761,39917,22517822
People who had

not quit at a 4

week follow-up

(self-report)

39,94039532,1457,40018019
People not

known/lost to

follow up

34,01637129,4284,21718712
Number who had successfully quit at a

4 week follow-up

(self-report), where

CO validation was

attempted

57,85626144,69112,90407722
Number who

undertook CO

validation and were confirmed

as not smoking

51,51522539,63311,65707723

Notes:

  1. A client is counted as having successfully quit smoking at the 4 week follow-up if he/she has not smoked at all since two weeks after the quit date. The figures presented here are based on self-report of smoking status by the client at the 4 week follow-up.
  2. The above figures include 2,649 pregnant women setting a quit date, of whom 1,321 (50%) had successfully quit (based on self-report) at the 4 week follow-up.
  3. Carbon Monoxide (CO) validation measures the level of carbon monoxide in the bloodstream and provides an indication on the level of use of tobacco. CO monitoring is offered to clients as a tool to aid smoking cessation.
  4. It is generally accepted that it is good practice to carry out CO monitoring due to its usefulness as a motivational tool for clients. However, smoking cessation services did not attempt CO validation on all people who had successfully quit at the 4 week follow-up (self-report).

Table 3 People setting a quit date in the period April to December 2001 by ethnicity

England      
Ethnicity   %%%
 TotalMalesFemalesTotalMalesFemales
Total153,00766,40886,599100100100
White143,69861,58282,116949395
Mixed916354562111
Asian2,1441,680464131
Black1,402630772111
Other761402359010
Not Known4,0861,7602,326333

Notes:

  1. These categories are based on those used for the 2001 census. Further guidance on collecting ethnicity category data is available on www.doh.gov.uk/ethnicity2001guidance

Table 4 Receipt of Nicotine Replacement Therapy (NRT) and bupropion (Zyban) by people setting a quit date in the period April to December 2001

England  
 Total%
Total number of people setting a quit date153,007100
Number who received NRT only88,24258
Number who received bupropion (Zyban) only35,08923
Number who received both

NRT and bupropion (Zyban)

3,4992
Number who did not received either

NRT or bupropion (Zyban)

17,59511
Number where treatment option no known8,5826

Notes:

  1. 'Received' means obtained by prescription, purchase or supply free of charge.
  2. A client is counted as 'treatment option not known' if he/she is lost to follow-up at 4 weeks and it is not known if they received NRT and/or bupropion.
  3. NRT became available on NHS prescription in April 2001; previously NRT was available through the smoking cessation services on a voucher scheme.
  4. In the period April to December 2001 there were 628,300 prescription items dispensed for NRT and 151,000 prescription items for bupropion; the Net Ingredient Costs (NIC) were £14.0 million and £5.8 million respectively. This information is taken from the PACT (Prescription Analyses and Cost) data from the Prescription Pricing Agency (PPA) held by Department of Health Statistics Division 1E. PACT covers all prescriptions prescribed in GP practices in England which are dispensed. The Net Ingredient Cost is the basic cost of a drug and does not take account of discounts, dispensing costs, fees or prescription charges income.
  5. PACT data only covers NRT received on prescription. It does not include NRT obtained via other sources such as local voucher schemes, patient group directive or purchased over the counter.

Table 5 People setting a quit date during the period April to December 2001, success rate at 4 weeks, and success rate per 100,000 population aged 16 and over (based on self-report), by Regional Office area and by whether a Health Action Zone

England    
 Number of people

setting a quit date

Number of people

who had successfully

quit at 4 weeks

(self-report)

% successfully

quit at 4 weeks

(self-report)

Number of people who

has successfully quit

at 4 weeks

(self-report) per

population aged 16

and over

England153,00779,05152198
Regional Office    
Northern

Yorkshire

35,94519,51854385
Trent12,0646,86657166
Eastern10,3986,45362148
London13,9736,27145107
South East11,9576,8015797
South West15,4718,09252201
West Midlands19,3049,60250227
North West33,89515,44846295
Health Action

Zones (HAZ)

72,17135,73650330
Other Health

Authorities

(non-HAZ)

80,83643,31554149

Notes:

  1. A client is counted as having successfully quit smoking at the 4 week follow-up if he/she has not smoked at all since two weeks after the quit date. The figures presented here are based on self-report of smoking status by the client at the 4 week follow-up.
  2. Twenty-six Health Action Zones (HAZs) have been established in England by the government in areas of deprivation and poor health to tackle health inequalities and modernise services through local innovation. Further information is available on www.haznet.org.uk
  3. There is great variation in the number of Health Action Zones in each Regional Office area; there are no Health Action Zones in the South East Regional Office area. Services were set up in the Health Action Zones in 1999/2000 and in other Health Authorities in 2000/01.
  4. The data are presented by Regional Office area - the structure of the NHS which existed in 2001/02, before the April 2002 re-organisation.
  5. The population rates in this table have been calculated using the 1991 census based population estimates of persons aged 16 and over for mid year 2000 (provided by the Office for National Statistics).

Table 6 People setting a quit date during the three month periods April to June 2000, to October to December 2001, and success rate at 4 weeks (based on self-report)

England   
 Number of

people setting a

quit date

Number of

people who had

successfully quit

at 4 weeks

(self-report)

% successfully quit

at 4 weeks

(self-report)

Total: April 2000

to March 2001

132,54464,55449
April to

June 2000

12,4324,24234
July to

September 2000

20,6949,22945
October to

December 2000

30,94615,41150
January to

March 2001

68,47235,67252
April to

June 2001

56,68928,68951
July to

September 2001

48,50424,99452

Notes:

  1. A client is counted as having successfully quit smoking at the 4 week follow-up if he/she has not smoked at all since two weeks after the quit date. The figures presented here are based on self-report of smoking status by the client at the 4 week follow-up.
  2. Smoking cessation services were set up in the Health Action Zones in 1999/00 and were rolled out across all Health Authorities in 2000/01.
  3. There have been minor revisions to the provisional figures for April to September 2001 published as a Statistical Press Notice on 14 February 2002. In Quarter 1 (April to June 2001) the number of people setting a quit date has been revised from 56,434 to 56,689 and the number successful, has been revised from 28,581 to 28,689. For Quarter 2 (July to September 2001) the number of people setting a quit date has been revised from 48,399 to 48,504 and the number successful, revised from 24,958 to 24,994.
  • Contact:
    Press officer
  • Address:
    Media Centre, Department of Health
    Richmond House, 79 Whitehall
    London
    SW1A 2NL
  • Phone:
    Media Centre
    020 7210 5221

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