Tobacco Cessation Quitline Utilization and Effectiveness Among Veteran Participants: A Retrospective Evaluation

U.S. military veterans have historically used tobacco at higher rates than the general population. Quitlines increase abstinence from tobacco use. The Veterans Health Administration national telephone quitline, Quit VET, offers tobacco cessation counseling to veterans enrolled in Veterans Health Administration health care. An evaluation of Quit VET was conducted to assess the use and effectiveness of the Quit VET service.

A retrospective evaluation of the Quit VET telephone quitline was conducted among 7,013 veterans who were first-time users and enrolled from January 1, 2019 through June 30, 2022. The evaluation was conducted in 2024-2025. Of these, 4,311 (61.5%) veterans consented to longitudinal assessment for up to 1 year after completion of treatment. The primary outcome was self-reported 30-day point prevalence abstinence at 6 months. Logistic regression was used to analyze associations between abstinence and veteran demographics, tobacco use, and treatment utilization.

Veterans who used Quit VET were on average aged 56.4 (SD=13.9) years and were mostly male (82.8%), were of White race (63.1%), and were of non-Hispanic ethnicity (84.6%). Cigarettes were the most common tobacco product used (77.2%), and 7.8% reported using 2 or more products. Veterans completed an average of 3.1 counseling sessions, and 63.7% used cessation medication. After 6 months, 28.5% reported 30-day abstinence in a complete case analysis, and 11.2% reported abstinence using an intent-to-treat analysis with a penalized imputation (i.e., missing=using tobacco). In an adjusted logistic regression model, tobacco use severity (number of cigarettes per day) was associated with decreased odds of abstinence at 3, 6, and 12 months. The tobacco use treatment dose (number of counseling sessions completed) significantly increased the likelihood of abstinence at all 3 endpoints. Self-reported use of tobacco cessation medication was associated with an increased likelihood of self-reported abstinence at the 3- and 12-month endpoints.

Quit VET effectively supports abstinence in a real-world group of veterans using various tobacco products.