Mobile Health Technology for Personalized Tobacco Cessation Support Among Cancer Survivors in Laos

Summary

The parent project (1R21CA253600-01, R21 phase: 9/1/2020-8/31/2022, R33 phase: 9/1/2022-8/31/2025) aims to adapt and evaluate the efficacy of our theoretically and empirically based mobile health (mHealth) technology to help general patients in Lao People's Democratic Republic (Lao PDR) quit smoking cigarettes. This mHealth automated treatment (AT) approach includes a fully automated, interactive, personalized, smartphone-based intervention for behavioral treatment, delivered through our Insight platform.

The purpose of this projects to expand our mHealth-based intervention to address the pressing need for smoking cessation among cancer survivors and their caregivers in Lao PDR. In this project, the investigators will further adapt the AT intervention to ensure that its content is comprehensible and relevant to the target populations (i.e., cancer survivors and caregivers). Then, the investigators will conduct a pilot randomized controlled trial (RCT, N=80) to evaluate the preliminary efficacy of the intervention. Cancer survivors and caregivers of both sexes who smoke will be identified via medical records at the Setthathirath Hospital (SH) and Lao National Cancer Center (LNCC) and recruited. Similar to the parent project's design, participants will be randomized to 1 of 2 treatment groups: standard care (SC) or AT. SC consists of brief advice to quit smoking delivered by research staff, self-help written materials, and a 2-week supply of nicotine patches. AT consists of all SC components plus our fully-automated interactive smartphone-based treatment program, personalized and tailored to cancer survivors or caregivers. The primary RCT outcome is biochemically confirmed self-reported 7-day point prevalence abstinence at 3 months post-study enrollment. The specific aims are as follows:

Aim 1: Evaluate the feasibility of AT in cancer survivors and caregivers. Hypothesis (H1): ≥75% of AT content will be viewed/opened as indicated by digital date/time stamp in Insight.

Aim 2: Evaluate the preliminary efficacy of AT in each cancer survivor/caregiver subgroup. Hypothesis (H2): At the 12-week follow-up, 7-day point prevalence abstinence will be higher in the AT (vs. SC) group.

Conditions

• Cigarette Smoking

Interventions

DRUG

Nicotine patch

Provision of nicotine replacement medications in the form of transdermal patches is important to address nicotine withdrawal/craving for smokers who want to quit. Evidence supporting the safety and efficacy of NRT is vast. The PHS Guideline indicates that use of NRT doubles quit rates and should be considered the minimal standard care. Therefore, we will provide NRT to all participants in both groups in the early cessation phase.

BEHAVIORAL

Self-help materials (to support smoking cessation)

Our team has translated and validated the World Health Organization's "A guide for tobacco users to quit" into Lao language for use as the self-help material in this study.

BEHAVIORAL

Smartphone-based automated treatment for smoking cessation

The automated treatment(AT) include text messages, images, and videos. The AT content is designed to tap the theoretical mechanisms described in the Phase-Based Model (PBM). That is, treatment content is designed to increase motivation, self-efficacy, use of coping skills, and social support, while reducing nicotine withdrawal symptoms and stress. The AT will begin immediately after enrollment and continue for a 12-week period. The AT approach allows for several levels of personalization for each participant, including tailoring to participants' specific health conditions, individual cessation phases, and participants' self-efficacy level or smoking status in the past week.

Sponsors & Collaborators

• Setthathirath Hospital

  collaborator OTHER

• Lao National Cancer Center

  collaborator OTHER

• National Center for Laboratory and Epidemiology, Lao PDR

  collaborator OTHER

• National Tobacco Control Committee, Lao PDR

  collaborator OTHER

• National Cancer Institute (NCI)

  collaborator NIH

• University of Oklahoma

  lead OTHER

Principal Investigators

• Thanh C Bui · Stephenson Cancer Center, University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center (OUHSC)

Study Design

Allocation

RANDOMIZED

Purpose

TREATMENT

Masking

SINGLE

Model

PARALLEL

Eligibility

Min Age

18 Years

Sex

ALL

Healthy Volunteers

No

Timeline & Regulatory

Start

2022-04-20

Primary Completion

2023-08-31

Completion

2023-08-31

Countries

• Laos

Study Locations