Mobile-based Peer Mentoring for Smoking Cessation: A Pilot Study
Trial Snapshot
- Phase
- Not Applicable
- Status
- Completed
- Enrollment
- 200
- Locations
- 2
- Primary Endpoint
- Saliva test for cotinine
Study Overview
Brief Summary
Despite the availability of a variety of effective treatments for smoking cessation, uptake of treatments is low. The increasing use of smartphone technology presents an exceptional opportunity to expand access to low-cost smoking cessation services. In this pilot study, the investigators will use a text-messaging platform to test peer mentoring for smoking cessation, delivered by former smokers. While peer mentoring is a common approach to health behavior change, it has rarely been used to maximum effect by smoking cessation programs. The text-messaging platform serves as the basis for a randomized controlled trial to test the effectiveness of peer mentoring for smoking cessation.
This pilot will include approximately 200 U.S. adult smokers who will be randomly assigned to a peer mentor or not. Participants in the control group will receive automated text messages used in SmokefreeTXT, a nationwide text-messaging service sponsored by the National Cancer Institute (NCI) in which users receive one to five automated messages per day for up to eight weeks. Smokers in the intervention group will receive a modified version of the same automated messages from SmokefreeTXT, but with additional personalized messages from an assigned peer mentor. Mentors will provide responses to specific questions or comments a smoker may have after receiving the automated messages.
The intervention will last 8 weeks. The study includes primary outcomes to measure the acceptability, engagement, user experience, and early efficacy of the intervention.
Study Design
- Study Type
- Interventional
- Allocation
- Randomized
- Intervention Model
- Parallel
- Primary Purpose
- Prevention
- Masking
- Single (Outcomes Assessor)
Eligibility Criteria
- Ages
- 18 Years to — (Adult, Older Adult)
- Sex
- All
- Accepts Healthy Volunteers
- Yes
Inclusion Criteria
- •At least 18 years old
- •Current resident of the U.S.
- •Smoked 100 or more cigarettes in lifetime
- •Current cigarette smoker
- •Access to a device that can take pictures to be uploaded to a website
- •Willing to complete a salivary cotinine test
Exclusion Criteria
- •Not a current user of nicotine replacement therapy
- •Not a current user of electronic cigarettes
Outcomes
Primary Outcomes
Saliva test for cotinine
Time Frame: 3 months after quit day
The primary measure of early efficacy is the 7-day point prevalence of abstinence measured 3 months after the quit day, using a saliva cotinine test. The saliva test results will be recorded through a series of photographs and shared with the study team via email or online upload. Participants who self-report having smoked in the last 7 days, as part of the follow-up survey, will be considered to be continuing smokers.
Secondary Outcomes
- Proportion who unsubscribe(Throughout the 6-8 week intervention)
- Duration of engagement(Up to 8 weeks)
- Satisfaction with the program(3 months after quit day)
- Self-reported smoking status(3 months after quit day)
- Accuracy of beliefs about personal content(Throughout the 6-8 week intervention)
- Proportion of participants who correctly self-report their message type(3 months after quit day)
- Change in average cigarettes per day(3 months after quit day)
- Number of participant messages sent(Throughout the 6-8 week intervention)