# Using Sleep Health to Optimize Smoking Cessation Treatment Response in HIV-Positive Adults

> **NIH NIH R01** · UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA · 2022 · $109,026

## Abstract

Abstract
Parent Grant: Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is a major cause of morbidity and mortality in adults living with
HIV (ALHIV), and cigarette smoking is the single most important modifiable CVD risk factor in this population.
Success rates for existing smoking cessation interventions are relatively low. Poor sleep is more prevalent
among smokers, more prevalent among ALHIV, can be caused by smoking cessation attempts, predicts
relapse to former smoking patterns, and represents a parallel pathway to morbidity including increased
cardiovascular disease (CVD) among ALHIV. Thus, unhealthy sleep may make smoking cessation more
difficult and increase cardiovascular risk and other poor health conditions in ALHIV. Yet, poor sleep is
amenable to nonpharmacologic interventions, and a pilot study from our group revealed that a sleep health
intervention increased smoking cessation rates when added to routine smoking cessation treatment. To
evaluate the efficacy of our sleep training approach to improve sleep health and increase smoking cessation
rates in ALHIV, the proposed study will supplement an empirically-supported smoking cessation program (6-
session, 15-week counseling program with varenicline) with a Sleep Training Approach to Reducing Smoking
(STARS) intervention developed for smokers. STARS will be compared to a General Health (GH) educational
control. The study will recruit N=200 ALHIV smokers who are interested in quitting. They will be randomized to
smoking cessation with either STARS (N=100) or GH (N=100). The study will measure the efficacy of STARS
versus GH to improve objectively measured healthy sleep metrics, assess its impact on smoking cessation as
well as other metrics of CVD risk, and determine whether cognitive and affective variables mediate the
association between sleep health and smoking cessation. Results of these studies will provide practical
information as well as mechanistic insight into how sleep health can be leveraged to optimize smoking
cessation treatment in ALHIV.
Supplement: This diversity supplement includes research and training components. The training component
will provide the candidate with the mentorship and development experiences necessary to successfully
compete for a K award application. The research component will recruit intervention non-responders into a
novel smoking and sleep intervention based on Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT). Research aims
of the supplement include (1) Determine the feasibility and acceptability of the intervention in non-responder
ALHIV, and (2) Determine the preliminary efficacy of the intervention for smoking cessation rates, sleep health,
and cardiovascular health.
.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10618603
- **Project number:** 3R01DA051321-03S1
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA
- **Principal Investigator:** Elizabeth Connick
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2022
- **Award amount:** $109,026
- **Award type:** 3
- **Project period:** 2020-07-01 → 2025-05-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10618603

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10618603, Using Sleep Health to Optimize Smoking Cessation Treatment Response in HIV-Positive Adults (3R01DA051321-03S1). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-26 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10618603. Licensed CC0.

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