Pneumology - Original Articles Open access

To evaluate the quit rate in smoking and smokeless tobacco users accessing the National Tobacco Quitline Services, New Delhi

Authors

Published
21 September 2026
Issue
Early Access
Section
Pneumology - Original Articles
DOI
10.4081/monaldi.2026.3779

Abstract

National Tobacco Quitline services are telephone-based interventions that help a vast population of tobacco users to quit all forms of tobacco. This covers smoking-related items, including cigarettes, hookahs, and bidis as well as smokeless tobacco products like khaini, gutkha, and pan masala. Quit-line has emerged as an important public health intervention that provides evidence-based, cost-effective support for tobacco quitting while achieving impressive quit rates in helping individuals quit. Telephonic interviews were used to gather data, which was based on information obtained from the National Tobacco Quitline Services (NTQLS) database between May 2016 and August 2024. Tobacco users motivated to quit were solicited to call the toll-free number and subsequently assigned to be called back four times, proactively by NTQLS. Throughout the registration procedure, participants supplied details concerning their specific types of tobacco usage, patterns of consumption, history, and personal demographic information like age, address, and other relevant data. The study recorded a total of 505,121 callers, with 346,959 (68.69%) reporting to be smokeless tobacco users, 96,765 (19.16%) as smoking users, and the rest, 61,397 (12.15%), reporting to use both smokeless and smoking tobacco. Overall quit rates were reported as 30.53% in smokeless tobacco users and 28.39% in smoking users. Most strikingly, people aged between 18 and 24 years old were the most determined to quit, with registration rates at 45.8% for smokeless tobacco and 47% for smoking tobacco. Individuals aged 55 years and above had the highest quit rate. Non-literate showed the highest smoking cessation. Government sector employees were consistent in their cessation efforts. In conclusion, the evaluation of quit rates among tobacco users gives a good understanding of cessation practices. Such findings can inform tailored interventions that aim to enhance cessation outcomes across different population groups. Future studies should continue to investigate these interactions to strengthen the effectiveness of tobacco control interventions.

Keywords

Ethics Approval

Ethics approval document number – VPCI/DIR/IHEC/ 2025/2372.

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