title: Analysis of media campaign promoting smoking cessation suggests it was cost-effective in prompting quit attempts.
abstract: The American Legacy Foundation's national EX® campaign, which ran on radio and television in 2008, was designed to promote smoking cessation among adult smokers. The incremental societal cost of EX, in 2009 dollars, was $166 million. Data from eight designated media market areas studied indicate that in a hypothetical nationwide cohort of 2,012,000 adult smokers ages 18-49, EX resulted in 52,979 additional quit attempts and 4,238 additional quits and saved 4,450 quality-adjusted life-years. Incremental cost-utility estimates comparing EX to the status quo-that is, the situation that would have existed in the eight markets with no campaign and no change in cessation behavior-ranged from a cost of $37,355 to $81,301 per quality-adjusted life-year, which suggests that the campaign was cost-effective. These findings bolster previous evidence that national mass media campaigns for smoking cessation can lower smoking prevalence in a cost-effective manner, among both adults and young adults ages 18-24 who are smokers.
authors.affiliation: Schroeder Institute for Tobacco Research and Policy Studies, American Legacy Foundation, Washington, D.C., USA. avillanti@legacyforhealth.org
authors.forename: Andrea C
authors.initials: AC
authors.lastname: Villanti
authors.forename: Laurel E
authors.initials: LE
authors.lastname: Curry
authors.forename: Amanda
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Richardson
authors.forename: Donna M
authors.initials: DM
authors.lastname: Vallone
authors.forename: David R
authors.initials: DR
authors.lastname: Holtgrave
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D015331:Cohort Studies; D003362:Cost-Benefit Analysis; D005260:Female; D006293:Health Promotion / Q000458:organization & administration*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008402:Mass Media; D015397:Program Evaluation; D011634:Public Health; D019057:Quality-Adjusted Life Years; D011845:Radio / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D012737:Sex Factors; D016540:Smoking Cessation / Q000191:economics* / Q000379:methods*; D013690:Television / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D013997:Time Factors; D014481:United States; D055815:Young Adult