A Retrospective Study of Federal Employees' Outcomes Following A Smoking Cessation Intervention.

Abstract

This retrospective study aimed to describe the federal employee population who participated in Federal Occupational Health's (FOH) smoking cessation intervention and to examine relationships and factors that influenced smoking cessation within this population. A large-scale national database of federal employees who participated in the smoking cessation intervention from January 2009 to January 2019 was obtained from FOH's administrators. The sample included 1265 participants who completed the survey 6 months post intervention. Descriptive statistics, chi square (c2), Pearson's correlation, and logistic regression were used to describe and correlate variables. Out of 1243 smokers, 590 (47.5%) successfully quit smoking while 653 (52.5%) did not quit smoking post intervention. Employees smoked, on average, for 23 years and smoked 18 cigarettes (more than ½ pack) per day before quitting. There was a positive correlation between the number of cigarettes smoked and number of years smoked before quitting. As the number of cigarettes and length of time smoking increased, the odds of quitting increased. FOH's cessation intervention helped participants quit smoking. FOH is positioned to integrate cessation strategies with its health promotion and protection programs to help end tobacco-related illnesses and diseases. The investigators' findings provide important evidence and support for FOH's work-site smoking cessation intervention. FOH could collaborate with other federal entities and provide evidence-based smoking cessation interventions with limited or no barriers.