Reducing Tobacco Use Disparities Among Low-Income Adults

Not Applicable

Completed

• Conditions: Nicotine Dependence; Cigarette Smoking
• Interventions: Behavioral: Enhanced usual care; Behavioral: Choose to Change

• Registration Number: NCT03077737
• Lead Sponsor: Northwestern University

Brief Summary

Most smokers, especially those who are poor, do not receive smoking cessation treatment during their healthcare visits. This study is evaluating a novel population health management intervention for low-income smokers. Automated via an EHR system, which is bidirectionally linked with the Illinois Tobacco Quitline, the intervention comprises a mailed letter and text messaging designed to motivate low-income patients, most of whom are not ready to quit, to accept and use proactive quitline treatment. Increased access to free effective treatment via the integration of healthcare systems and state quitline services may be especially significant in its impact on low-income smokers who are underserved and who carry a much greater burden of tobacco-related disease.

Detailed Description

An estimated 26 million smokers still receive no treatment for their smoking during their primary care visits. Given the persistent clinical system, provider, and patient barriers to addressing smoking in primary care, especially for poor populations, an electronic health record (EHR)-automated population health management approach that directly links the healthcare system with public health services to engage all smokers may increase access to effective treatment. Increased access is especially significant for low-income smokers who are underserved and who carry a disproportionate burden of tobacco-related disease. While 90% of smokers are not ready to quit, many are interested in cutting down, and smoking reduction increases the likelihood of future quit attempts and smoking cessation. Based on self-determination theory, population outreach targeted to low-income smokers that offers them the choice to either quit or cut down as a first step towards cessation may increase their engagement in and utilization of smoking cessation treatment and likelihood of achieving abstinence. This 2-group randomized controlled trial will evaluate the effectiveness of a population health management intervention for smoking cessation in low-income smokers. Participants will be 530 diverse, low-income smokers of a large Federally Qualified Health Center (FQHC) in Chicago identified using its EHR system. Automated via the EHR system, participants will be mailed a letter on behalf of their providers that encourages smoking cessation or smoking reduction as a first step to quitting (Choose to Change; N=265). The letter will be paired with 5 text messages 2-3 days apart that are designed to reinforce the central messaging of the letter ("Choose to change and make your own goal"). All components of the Choose to Change intervention will be offered in English and Spanish. Two weeks after letter mailing and automated electronic referral, participants will receive a call from the Illinois Tobacco Quitline and offered free behavioral counseling and free nicotine replacement therapy (NRT; patch, gum, or lozenge) for smoking cessation or reduction. Treatment will continue as either accepted or initiated by participants for 28 weeks. Treatment outcomes will be transmitted directly from the Quitline server to the EHR system. Choose to Change will be compared with Enhanced Usual Care (N=265), in which an electronic referral for proactive Quitline treatment is made during a clinic visit. The primary study outcomes will be treatment engagement (initial counseling call completed) at 6 weeks, utilization (one or more additional counseling calls completed) at 14 weeks, and smoking cessation (bioverified 7-day point-prevalence abstinence) at 28 weeks. An exploratory aim is to examine moderators of intervention effects. An EHR-automated population health management intervention targeted to low-income smokers could reduce critical disparities in treatment access, utilization, and cessation. If determined to be effective, the Choose to Change intervention could be readily disseminated to 11 other FQHCs in Chicago, comprising 85 clinical sites that care for almost 500,000 low-income patients.

Study Timeline

• Study First Submitted: 2017-03-01
• Study First Submitted QC: 2017-03-07
• Study First Posted: 2017-03-13
• Study Start: 2017-04-21
• Primary Completion: 2018-08-31
• Study Completion: 2018-08-31
• Results First Submitted: 2021-12-15
• Results First Submitted QC: 2021-12-15
• Status Verified: 2022-01
• Results First Posted: 2022-01-12
• Last Update Submitted: 2022-01-13
• Last Update Posted: 2022-01-21

Recruitment & Eligibility

• Status: COMPLETED
• Sex: All
• Target Recruitment: 190

Inclusion Criteria

Not provided

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Exclusion Criteria

Not provided

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Study & Design

• Study Type: INTERVENTIONAL
• Study Design: PARALLEL

Arm && Interventions

Group	Intervention	Description
Enhanced usual care	Enhanced usual care	Usual clinic-based care enhanced by an EHR system that can deliver an electronic referral for quitline treatment
Population health management	Choose to Change	Population health management for smoking cessation in low-income smokers: the Choose to Change intervention

Primary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
Quitline Treatment Engagement	Week 6	The number of participants who accepted the quitline call and accepted treatment as defined by enrolling in treatment and completing the first counseling session. Participants who returned a quitline call, enrolled in treatment, and completed the first counseling session were also counted as having engaged in treatment.
Quitline Treatment Utilization	Week 14	The number of participants who completed one or more additional quitline counseling calls.
Smoking Cessation at Week 28 (32 Weeks After Enrollment)	Week 28	Self-reported seven-day point-prevalence abstinence at week 28. Number of participants who reporting smoking cessation at week 28. Participants were classified as abstinent if they reported not smoking (not even a puff of a cigarette) for at least 7 days prior to the assessment.

Secondary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
Smoking Cessation at Week 14 (18 Weeks After Enrollment)	Week 14	Self-reported seven-day point-prevalence abstinence at week 14. Participants were classified as abstinent if they reported not smoking (not even a puff of a cigarette) for at least 7 days prior to the assessment.

Trial Locations

Locations (1)

Northwestern University Feingberg School of Medicine, Dept. of Preventive Medicine; 🇺🇸 Chicago, Illinois, United States