Nicotine & tobacco research : official journal of the Society for Research on Nicotine and Tobacco
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Randomized Controlled Trial
A Randomized Clinical Trial Examining the Effects of Instructions for Electronic Cigarette Use on Smoking-Related Behaviors and Biomarkers of Exposure.
Electronic cigarettes (e-cigarettes) have the potential to significantly reduce exposure to harmful constituents associated with cigarette smoking when smokers completely substitute cigarettes with e-cigarettes. This study examined patterns of e-cigarette and cigarette use, and extent of toxicant exposure, if smokers were instructed and incentivized to completely switch to e-cigarettes compared to instructions to use the product ad libitum. ⋯ Smokers instructed to completely substitute e-cigarettes for cigarettes displayed significantly lower levels of smoking and biomarkers of exposure to carcinogens and toxicants, compared to smokers instructed to use e-cigarettes ad libitum and similar levels as smokers instructed to completely substitute with nicotine replacement therapies. Furthermore, a higher rate of complete switching was achieved with e-cigarettes versus nicotine replacement therapies. Approaches to maximize complete substitution with e-cigarettes are an important area for future research.
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Smoking depresses pulmonary immune function and is a risk factor contracting other infectious diseases and more serious outcomes among people who become infected. This paper presents a meta-analysis of the association between smoking and progression of the infectious disease COVID-19. ⋯ Physicians and public health professionals should collect data on smoking as part of clinical management and add smoking cessation to the list of practices to blunt the COVID-19 pandemic.
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Randomized Controlled Trial
Evaluating the Effects of a Brief Tobacco Intervention in the US Air Force.
Military personnel have among the highest rates of tobacco use in the United States. Unfortunately, there are few interventions aimed at reducing tobacco use among this vulnerable population. The current study addresses this need by evaluating the short-term effectiveness of a Brief Tobacco Intervention (BTI), a 40-min group-based intervention designed to reduce contemporary patterns of tobacco use among a sample of US military enlistees during an 11-week period of involuntary tobacco abstinence. ⋯ Despite the fact that most Airmen believe they will remain tobacco free following the ban in Technical Training, a large percentage of these Airmen resume and initiate tobacco use during this high-risk period. As a result, there is a need for interventions targeting the range of tobacco available to military trainees during a teachable moment when they report intentions to remain tobacco free. The current study shows that a BTI has promise in reducing long-term tobacco use, when coupled with additional interventions, such as a booster session or a media campaign.
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Randomized Controlled Trial
A Pilot Randomized Clinical Trial of Brief Interventions to Encourage Quit Attempts in Smokers From Socioeconomic Disadvantage.
Cigarette smoking disproportionately affects communities of low socioeconomic status where greater smoking prevalence and poorer cessation rates have been observed. Utilizing brief evidence-based interventions to increase cessation attempts may be an effective and easily disseminable means by which to mitigate undue burden in this population. ⋯ While most clinical research on tobacco use and dependence focuses on successful sustained abstinence, the current study is novel because it examined three brief interventions designed to increase the number of quit attempts made by a nontreatment-seeking group suffering from health disparities (ie, smokers from socioeconomic disadvantage). These data suggest that nontreatment-seeking smokers from socioeconomic disadvantage can be influenced by Brief MIs and these interventions should be used to motivate smokers from socioeconomic disadvantage to make a quit attempt. Future studies should examine combined MIs including pharmacological and behavioral interventions.
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Randomized Controlled Trial
Pilot Randomized Controlled Trial of a Novel Smoking Cessation App Designed for Individuals With Co-Occurring Tobacco Use Disorder and Serious Mental Illness.
High rates of tobacco use among people with serious mental illness (SMI), along with their unique needs, suggest the importance of developing tailored smoking cessation interventions for this group. Previous early-phase work empirically validated the design and content of Learn to Quit, a theory-based app designed for this population. ⋯ This study suggests that the Learn to Quit app is a feasible approach to deliver smoking cessation treatment in patients with co-occurring tobacco use disorder and SMI. This means that, if found efficacious, this technology could be used to deploy smoking cessation treatment to larger segments of this population, hence improving public health. Therefore, a randomized controlled trial should be conducted to examine the efficacy of this digital intervention.