Teachable Moment to Opt-Out of Tobacco (TeaM OUT): A Stepped Wedge Cluster Randomized Trial

NIH RePORTER · VA · I01 · · view on reporter.nih.gov ↗

Abstract

Background: Cigarette smoking is the leading cause of preventable disease in the U.S. Despite decades of slowly declining cigarette use, many older adults still actively smoke. Among Veterans, 22% overall and 17% of those over 50 years old actively smoked in 2015. It is notoriously difficult to quit, despite widespread knowledge among adults about the health hazards of persistent smoking and a frequent desire to quit. Given the prevalence and persistence of tobacco addiction, the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) recommends that health care professionals offer cessation interventions at every health care encounter. Significance/Impact: The Teachable Moment to Opt-Out of Tobacco (TeaM OUT) intervention is specifically designed to increase motivation to quit, reduce roadblocks, and increase access to smoking cessation resources. It is especially focused connecting older active smokers not yet ready to quit to smoking cessation services. TeaM OUT has the potential to result in more frequent and longer periods of abstinence from smoking in this hard-to-reach population. Innovation: TeaM OUT combines a teachable moment with an opt-out, proactive approach to connect patients to existing cessation services using interactive voice response (IVR) technology. IVR is a proactive and affordable way to reach more older active smokers more frequently. Specific Aims: Aim 1: Among patients recently diagnosed with a pulmonary nodule, evaluate the effectiveness of a proactive, teachable moment-based, smoking cessation outreach intervention (TeaM OUT) on increasing engagement with smoking cessation resources compared to Enhanced Usual Care. Aim 2: Evaluate the association of receipt of TeaM OUT with nicotine abstinence (seven-day point prevalence and biochemically-measured) and quit motivation compared to Enhanced Usual Care. Aim 3: Qualitatively elicit perspectives from key stakeholders to inform acceptability and utility, implementation barriers and facilitators, and scalability of TeaM OUT. Methodology: In aim 1, we use pulmonary nodule registries to identify participants from three VA facilities (VA Portland, Minneapolis VA, Charleston VA). Patients with pulmonary nodules will be contacted after a stepped- wedged randomization at the clinical level. Participants in the intervention arm are called by the IVR Quitline, whereas participants the control arm must proactively choose to call the quitline. Options selected on the quitline will be recorded and analyzed using logistic regression to test if the quitline increases engagement with smoking cessation services. For aim 2, a subsample of participants in aim 1 will be contacted to complete additional surveys for 56 weeks after nodule identification. We will measure nicotine abstinence, quit motivation, and communication and analyze the measures using multivariable, multi-level hierarchical logistic regression. In aim 3, we will qualitatively assess TeaM OUT by interviewing patient participants twice d...

Key facts

NIH application ID
10070534
Project number
1I01HX003105-01A1
Recipient
PORTLAND VA MEDICAL CENTER
Principal Investigator
Christopher G. Slatore
Activity code
I01
Funding institute
VA
Fiscal year
2020
Award amount
Award type
1
Project period
2020-10-01 → 2024-08-31