Statistics on smoking cessation services In Northern Ireland: 4 week follow up figures for 2023/24, and 52 week follow up figures for 2022/23

The Department of Health today published statistical tables relating to smoking cessation services for 2023/24.

The statistical tables provide 4-week follow-up information on people reporting to smoking cessation services during the year 2023/24, in addition to figures for the 52-week follow-up of people who signed up to the programme in 2022/23.

Key Findings

• Information on people accessing smoking cessation services is supplied to the Public Health Agency by providers of the service. In 2023/24, a total of 9,196 people were reported to have set a quit date through the smoking cessation services in Northern Ireland.
• The number of people reported to have set a quit date remains lower than a decade ago when 21,779 people did so in 2014/15. Cigarette smoking prevalence has also fallen over a similar time period from 22% in 2014/15 to 14% in 2022/23 (source: Health Survey Northern Ireland).
• Nicotine Replacement Therapy (NRT) was the most popular therapeutic intervention, with 74% of those who set a quit date having used this therapy.
• At the 4-week follow-up 5,553 people (60% of those setting a quit date) reported that they had successfully quit, 20% had not quit and 20% could not be contacted for the follow-up.
• The 4-week success rate was 62% for males and 59% for females.
• Around a third (31%) of the 9,147 adults who set a quit date were from the most deprived quintile while a further quarter (25%) were from the second most deprived quintile. This compares with around one in ten (8%) from the least deprived quintile. The 4-week success rate was 58% for those in the most deprived quintile compared with 60% in the least deprived quintile.
• Of the 547 women who were recorded as being pregnant, 32% were from the most deprived quintile compared with 9% from the least deprived quintile. At the 4-week follow-up, 70% of pregnant women reported to have successfully quit, 14% had not quit, and 16% were not able to be contacted.
• At the 52-week follow-up of those that had quit at 4 weeks in 2022/23, two-fifths (40%) reported still being tobacco free, while around a quarter (23%) had resumed smoking, and a further 37% could not be contacted.

Notes to editors:

1. This information is supplied to the Public Health Agency by providers of smoking cessation services (e.g. pharmacist, GP, nurse). The Department of Health receives a copy of the validated dataset from the Public Health Agency.

It should be noted that the time period for submitting information for the 2023/24 year was extended for community pharmacy services thus caution should be exercised when comparing with previous years as some of the difference may be attributed to this.

2. Notes relating to the statistics release are detailed below:

• Brief interventions by General Practitioners (GPs) and other health professionals. These will be provided in the normal course of the professional's duties rather than comprising a 'new' service, and monitoring information about clients in receipt of such interventions is not therefore required centrally. Thus, this information is not captured in this release.
• Specialist smoking cessation services run by smoking cessation specialist(s) who have received training for this role. The service will be evidence based and offer intensive treatment, usually in the form of one-to-one or group support up to 12 weeks, including the use of Nicotine Replacement Therapy. Such a service may be situated in a major hospital or clinic, although it could be based in a community setting, have outreach clinics or operate on a peripatetic basis.
• Quit date. It is recognised that in certain cases some time may need to be spent with clients before they are ready to set a quit date. However, only actual quit attempts are counted for monitoring purposes.
• Success. On the basis that the clinical viewpoint tends to be that a client should not be counted as a 'failure' if he/she has smoked in the difficult first days after the quit date, a client is counted as having successfully quit smoking if he/she has not smoked at all since two weeks after the quit date.
• Four-week and 52-week follow-up. All clients should be followed up at four weeks and those who self-report as having quit at this stage should be followed up again at 52 weeks.

3. This publication is available online at:

https://www.health-ni.gov.uk/articles/tobacco-statistics

4. Additional information is available from:

Public Health Information and Research Branch
Information and Analysis Directorate
Department of Health
Annexe 2
Castle Buildings
Stormont
Belfast BT4 3SQ
Telephone: 028 9052 2340
E-mail: [email protected]

5. For media enquiries please contact the DoH Press Office by email [email protected].

6. Follow us on X @healthdpt and linkedIn Department of Health NI | LinkedIn

7. The Executive Information Service operates an out of hours service For Media Enquiries Only between 1800hrs and 0800hrs Monday to Friday and at weekends and public holidays. The duty press officer can be contacted on 028 9037 8110.

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