Smartphone-delivered Automated Video-assisted Smoking Treatment for People Living With HIV: Project AVAST - HIV

Substantial evidence indicates that the prevalence of cigarette smoking among persons living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA) is far higher than the prevalence in the general US population. Moreover, strong associations between smoking and numerous adverse AIDS- and non-AIDS-related outcomes have been detailed. Thus, efficacious smoking cessation programs targeted to PLWHA are needed. Despite the need, relatively few smoking cessation intervention trials for PLWHA have been conducted, and the published results from these trials have not been overly positive. The currently available literature indicates that HIV+ smokers appear to be motivated to quit, as evidenced by high enrollment rates. Also, it appears that more intensive interventions result in significantly higher quit rates (vs. minimal interventions) at short term and intermediate follow-ups. However, smoking relapse rates are very high, and treatment effects are not well sustained. This study seeks to address this treatment need by evaluating the feasibility and preliminary efficacy of a smartphone-delivered automated video-assisted smoking treatment (AVAST).

Participants (n=20) will be randomized to one of two treatment conditions: 1) Standard Treatment (ST; n=10) or Automated Treatment (AT; n=10). In the ST condition, research staff will provide participants with in- person brief advice to quit and enroll them in a proactive telephone counseling program for smoking cessation. This ST approach mirrors the Ask Advise Connect (AAC) approach that our team has previously developed and implemented in numerous clinic settings. ST will be evaluated against AT, the fully automated AVAST approach. In the AT condition, smokers will be provided with in-person brief advice to quit and be enrolled in a fully automated and interactive smartphone-based treatment program that comprises interactive text messaging, images and audio/video clips. Participants in both treatment conditions will be provided with nicotine replacement therapy (NRT) in the form of transdermal patches. The goal of this pilot project is to establish the preliminary efficacy and feasibility of AT. Data collected in the pilot will then be used to support the submission of a NIH R01 application, and to determine if AT performs no worse than the more resource intensive ST approach. If lack of inferiority is established in the larger project, the AT approach will be readily scalable; easily implemented by community-based clinics and organizations; and offer an efficient way to allocate limited public health resources to tobacco control interventions.