Using Behavioral Nudges to Engage Pregnant Women in a Smoking Cessation Trial: An Online Field Quasi-Experiment.
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ABSTRACT:
SUBMITTER: Blaga OM
PROVIDER: S-EPMC7761597 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Dec
REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature
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Using Behavioral Nudges to Engage Pregnant Women in a Smoking Cessation Trial: An Online Field Quasi-Experiment.
Blaga Oana M OM Frățilă Teodora D TD Meghea Cristian I CI
Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) 20201202 4
Evidence shows that behavioral nudges could be used to enhance enrollment rates in randomized controlled trials (RCTs) by addressing enrollment barriers, but research on this topic is limited. We conducted an online field quasi-experiment with separate pretest (October 2017-January 2018) and posttest (February-May 2018) samples designed to examine the use of behavioral nudges to engage pregnant smokers in a couple-focused smoking cessation RCT relying on online enrollment through paid Facebook a ...[more]
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Project description:To identify promising intervention components intended to help smokers to attain and maintain abstinence in their quit smoking attempts.A fully crossed, six-factor randomized fractional factorial experiment.Eleven primary care clinics in southern Wisconsin, USA.A total of 637 adult smokers (55% women, 88% white) motivated to quit smoking who visited primary care clinics.Six intervention components designed to prepare smokers to quit, and achieve and maintain abstinence (i.e. for the preparation, cessation and maintenance phases of smoking treatment): (1) preparation nicotine patch versus none; (2) preparation nicotine gum versus none; (3) preparation counseling versus none; (4) intensive cessation in-person counseling versus minimal; (5) intensive cessation telephone counseling versus minimal; and (6) 16 versus 8?weeks of combination nicotine replacement therapy (nicotine patch ?+? nicotine gum).Seven-day self-reported point-prevalence abstinence at 16?weeks.Preparation counseling significantly improved week 16 abstinence rates (P = .04), while both forms of preparation nicotine replacement therapy interacted synergistically with intensive cessation in-person counseling (P?<?0.05). Conversely, intensive cessation phone counseling and intensive cessation in-person counseling interacted antagonistically (P?<?0.05)-these components produced higher abstinence rates by themselves than in combination.Preparation counseling and the combination of intensive cessation in-person counseling with preparation nicotine gum or patch are promising intervention components for smoking and should be evaluated as an integrated treatment package.
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Project description:BackgroundAlthough a relatively small proportion of women who become pregnant continue to smoke cigarettes, no smoking cessation medication has been shown to be effective for this subgroup of smokers. Bupropion, a nonnicotine-based medication, is approved for the promotion of smoking cessation in nonpregnant individuals. We chose to study it in pregnant smokers because, although pregnancy increases nicotine metabolism, it does not affect the metabolism of bupropion.ObjectiveWe evaluated the efficacy and safety of sustained-release bupropion for smoking cessation among pregnant women.Study designWe conducted a multiple site, placebo-controlled, randomized clinical trial of bupropion for tobacco use among pregnant women (N=129) (clinical trial number NCT02188459). We enrolled women during the second trimester and randomly assigned them to receive 10 weeks of treatment with either bupropion or placebo, accompanied by a total of 6 smoking cessation counseling sessions (4 during treatment and 2 postpartum). The primary outcome was 7-day point prevalence smoking abstinence, confirmed with breath carbon monoxide measurements, at the end of treatment (week 10) and at week 24. Group differences were assessed as a binary abstinence outcome using a repeated measure generalized estimating equations model with a logit link. Prolonged abstinence and smoking rates were secondary outcomes. Safety measures included maternal treatment-related adverse events, gestational age, the rate of overall and spontaneous preterm births and infant birthweight and size for gestational age, head circumference, and 5-minute Apgar scores.ResultsThere were no significant differences in the safety measures across the treatment arms and bupropion was not efficacious in promoting smoking cessation at the end of treatment (7-day point prevalence quit rates: bupropion, 11.0%; placebo, 18.5%) or week 24 (7-day point prevalence quit rates: bupropion, 9.4%; placebo, 21.5%) (P>.05). African American women and women with a lower severity of nicotine dependence had significantly higher quit rates overall and women with an opioid use disorder who were being treated with opioid agonist therapy had significantly lower quit rates overall, irrespective of the treatment group (all P values <.05).ConclusionAlthough bupropion use was not associated with an elevated risk for pregnancy complications when initiated in the second trimester, it did not increase the likelihood of smoking cessation in this cohort of pregnant women. Because smoking is the major preventable source of poor pregnancy outcomes and psychosocial interventions have only modest beneficial effects, additional studies are needed to identify safe and efficacious smoking cessation medications for pregnant women who continue to smoke.
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