scholarly journals Integrated Phone Counselling and Text Messaging Services at Quitlines: An Acceptability Study

2014 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 5-11 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lorien C. Abroms ◽  
Philip Carroll ◽  
Ashley L. Boal ◽  
Judith Mendel ◽  
Kelly M. Carpenter

Introduction: With evidence to support the use of text messaging for smoking cessation, some quitlines in North America have incorporated text messaging into their service offerings.Aims: This study sought to evaluate whether integrated phone counselling and text messaging services are acceptable to quitline callers, and to identify strategies for improving text messaging services in the context of a quitline.Methods: Thirty-five adult callers of the New Mexico state quitline who had enrolled in multi-call phone counselling and Text2Quit, a text messaging programme, were interviewed by phone. Interviews assessed use and acceptability of the phone counselling and text messaging interventions.Results: Use of phone counselling and text messaging was generally high among participants. While most participants reported that they would highly recommend Text2Quit (75.8%) or phone counselling (78.8%) individually, a relatively higher proportion indicated they would highly recommend the combined services (93.9%). Suggestions for improvement focused on increased customisation and personalisation.Conclusions: This study provides preliminary evidence for the acceptability of integrated phone counselling and text messaging services. Research is needed that explores the impact of these widely-used integrated services on smoking cessation.

2018 ◽  
Vol 21 (5) ◽  
pp. 663-669 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kisha I Coa ◽  
Kara P Wiseman ◽  
Bryan Higgins ◽  
Erik Augustson

Abstract Introduction Smoking continues to be a leading cause of preventable death. Mobile health (mHealth) can extend the reach of smoking cessation programs; however, user dropout, especially in real-world implementations of these programs, limit their potential effectiveness. Research is needed to understand patterns of engagement in mHealth cessation programs. Methods SmokefreeTXT (SFTXT) is the National Cancer Institute’s 6–8 week smoking cessation text-messaging intervention. Latent growth mixture modeling was used to identify unique classes of engagement among SFTXT users using real-world program data from 7090 SFTXT users. Survival analysis was conducted to model program dropout over time by class, and multilevel modeling was used to explore differences in abstinence over time. Results We identified four unique patterns of engagement groups. The largest percentage of users (61.6%) were in the low-engagers declining group; these users started off with low level of engagement and their engagement decreased over time. Users in this group were more likely to drop out from the program and less likely to be abstinent than users in the other groups. Users in the high engagers–maintaining group (ie, the smallest but most engaged group) were less likely to be daily smokers at baseline and were slightly older than those in the other groups. They were most likely to complete the program and report being abstinent. Conclusions Our findings show the importance of maintaining active engagement in text-based cessation programs. Future research is needed to elucidate predictors of the various levels of engagement, and to assess whether strategies aimed at increasing engagement result in higher abstinence rates. Implications The current study enabled us to investigate differing engagement patterns in non-incentivized program participants, which can help inform program modifications in real-world settings. Lack of engagement and dropout continue to impede the potential effectiveness of mHealth interventions, and understanding patterns and predictors of engagement can enhance the impact of these programs.


Author(s):  
Lorien C Abroms ◽  
Keng-Chieh Wu ◽  
Nandita Krishnan ◽  
Michael Long ◽  
Sarah Belay ◽  
...  

Abstract Background Automated text messaging programs have been studied as a treatment tool, but have not been studied as an outreach tool to increase the reach of smoking cessation treatment. Methods Two distinct text messaging programs were developed. One was aimed at connecting smokers to quitline phone counseling via text message (Text4Coach (T4C)) and the other was aimed at connecting smokers to a smoking cessation text messaging program (Text&Quit (T&Q)). Adult daily smokers with Medicaid insurance (N=80) were recruited from the Emergency Department at an urban hospital and randomized to T4C or T&Q. The primary outcome was program reach. Results Outreach text messages were found to have moderately high uptake, with the majority of participants (63.8%) opting into their assigned tobacco treatment program and younger and female participants more likely to opt in (p<.01). Receipt of the treatment portion of the program differed among the programs with 67.5% of T&Q receiving the treatment program and 27.5 % of T4C receiving the program (p<.001). Most participants across both groups replied to at least 1 message (71.3%) and very few unsubscribed from the service over the 3 week trial. The majority of participants reported overall satisfaction with their program (63.8%), found it helpful for quitting smoking (60.0%) and would recommend the program to a friend (62.5%). Overall, 11 (13.8 %) participants reported being abstinent from smoking for the past 7 days at follow-up, with no differences between groups. Conclusion Outreach text messages were found to have moderately high reach among Medicaid smokers. Larger trials are needed to evaluate the impact of such programs on helping low-income smokers quit.


2018 ◽  
Vol 52 (11) ◽  
pp. 1109-1116 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alicia B. Forinash ◽  
Abigail Yancey ◽  
Danielle Chamness ◽  
Jamie Koerner ◽  
Christina Inteso ◽  
...  

Background: Smoking during pregnancy has detrimental effects on mother and fetus. Text messaging has been utilized to improve patient care. Objective: To evaluate the impact of text messaging on smoking cessation rates among pregnant women in addition to standard of care (SOC) smoking cessation services. Our SOC includes pharmacist-driven education with or without nicotine patch or bupropion. Methods: This randomized, open-label, prospective trial was conducted at a maternal fetal care center from May 2014 to January 2016. Pregnant patients in the preparation stage of change were randomized to text messaging or SOC. The primary outcome was smoking cessation verified with exhaled carbon monoxide levels (eCO) 2 weeks from quit date. All received clinical pharmacist weekly calls for 3 weeks and biweekly visits until pharmacotherapy completion. The text messaging group also received predetermined motivational messages. Results: Of 49 randomized patients, 13 withdrew, and 6 were lost to follow-up. The remaining included 14 texting and 16 SOC patients. eCO-verified cessation was achieved by 57.1% in the texting group versus 31.3% in the control ( P = 0.153). Overall, 64.3% of the texting group achieved an eCO below 8 ppm at ≥1 visit versus 37.5% in the control group ( P = 0.143). No difference was found in birth outcomes. The study was underpowered because of slow enrollment and high drop-out rates. Conclusions and Relevance: Text messaging had minimal impact on improving smoking cessation rates in the obstetric population. However, further research is warranted because of the underpowered nature of this trial. Given the detrimental effects of smoking in pregnancy, more comprehensive cessation strategies are warranted.


Author(s):  
Chris R H Brown ◽  
Paul Faulkner

Abstract Introduction The addition of graphic health warnings to cigarette packets can facilitate smoking cessation, primarily through their ability to elicit a negative affective response. Smoking has been linked to COVID-19 mortality, thus making it likely to elicit a strong affective response in smokers. COVID-19-related health warnings (C19HW) may therefore enhance graphic health warnings, when compared to traditional health warnings (THW). Further, because impulsivity influences smoking behaviours, we also examined whether these affective responses were associated with delay discounting. Methods In a between-subjects design, 240 smokers rated the valence and arousal elicited by tobacco packaging that contained either a C19HW or THW (both referring to death). Participants also completed questionnaires to quantify delay discounting and attitudes towards COVID-19 and smoking (eg, health risks, motivation to quit). Results There were no differences between the two health warning types on either valence or arousal, nor any secondary outcome variables. There was, however, a significant interaction between health warning type and delay discounting on arousal ratings. Specifically, in smokers who exhibit low delay discounting, C19HWs elicited significantly greater subjective arousal rating than did THWs, whereas there was no significant effect of health warning type on arousal in smokers who exhibited high delay discounting. Conclusion The results suggest that in smokers who exhibit low impulsivity (but not high impulsivity), C19HWs may be more arousing than THWs. Future work is required to explore the long-term utility of C19HWs, and to identify the specific mechanism by which delay discounting moderates the efficacy of tobacco health warnings. Implications The study is the first to explore the impact of COVID-19-related health warnings on cigarette packaging. The results suggest that COVID-19-related warnings elicit a similar level of negative emotional arousal, relative to traditional warnings. However, COVID-19 warnings, specifically, elicit especially strong emotional responses in less impulsive smokers, who report low delay discounting. Therefore, there is preliminary evidence supporting COVID-19 related warnings for tobacco products to aid smoking cessation. Additionally, there is novel evidence that, for some warnings, high impulsiveness may be a factor in reduced warning efficacy, which may explain poorer cessation success in this population.


2008 ◽  
Vol 27 (3, Suppl) ◽  
pp. S197-S206 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrew W. Hertel ◽  
Emily A. Finch ◽  
Kristina M. Kelly ◽  
Christie King ◽  
Harry Lando ◽  
...  

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lungwani Muungo

The effectiveness of any biomedical prevention technology relies on both biological efficacy and behavioraladherence. Microbicide trials have been hampered by low adherence, limiting the ability to draw meaningfulconclusions about product effectiveness. Central to this problem may be an inadequate conceptualization of howproduct properties themselves impact user experience and adherence. Our goal is to expand the current microbicidedevelopment framework to include product ‘‘perceptibility,’’ the objective measurement of user sensoryperceptions (i.e., sensations) and experiences of formulation performance during use. For vaginal gels, a setof biophysical properties, including rheological properties and measures of spreading and retention, may criticallyimpact user experiences. Project LINK sought to characterize the user experience in this regard, and tovalidate measures of user sensory perceptions and experiences (USPEs) using four prototype topical vaginal gelformulations designed for pericoital use. Perceptibility scales captured a range of USPEs during the productapplication process (five scales), ambulation after product insertion (six scales), and during sexual activity (eightscales). Comparative statistical analyses provided empirical support for hypothesized relationships between gelproperties, spreading performance, and the user experience. Project LINK provides preliminary evidence for theutility of evaluating USPEs, introducing a paradigm shift in the field of microbicide formulation design. Wepropose that these user sensory perceptions and experiences initiate cognitive processes in users resulting inproduct choice and willingness-to-use. By understanding the impact of USPEs on that process, formulationdevelopment can optimize both drug delivery and adherence.


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