None listed
Conditions
Brief summary
Hospital admission provides a unique opportunity to offer support to smokers to quit. Patients are motivated to quit due to their health condition; the smoke-free environment reduces cues to smoking; & health care professionals are available to provide assistance to quit. In the 3rd quarter of 2015/2016, 93% hospitalised smokers were identified and received brief advice. However, very few New Zealand hospitals provide the follow-up support after discharge that research shows to be essential to sustained abstinence. Current practice (‘usual care’) is that when patients are admitted their smoking status is routinely recorded, and if they are a smoker a health worker will give them brief advice to quit smoking and issue them a ‘quitcard’ (an exchange voucher for subsidised nicotine replacement therapy [NRT]), and refer them for support via Quitline or a hospital cessation counsellor. Without adequate follow-up, many smokers do not sustain tobacco treatment after hospital discharge and often return to environments filled with other cues to smoke. Consequently, many such smokers relapse to smoking within three days of hospital discharge. Sustaining smoking cessation support after hospital discharge is a challenge for healthcare systems. DHB resources are often constrained and individual follow up are often costly and time consuming. Thus there is a need to design innovative tools and/or resources that can be easily implemented and sustained. Mobile telephone and wireless technology has the potential to be an extremely powerful tool for influencing behaviour at a population level, because the technology is widely available globally, inexpensive, and allows instant delivery of information. The aim of this study is to assess the effectiveness of a mHealth intervention (ADEPT - an automated package of digital therapies, comprising text messaging providing motivational and distraction messages, medication [e.g. NRT] reminders and referral to Quitline or GP if desired) for patients who are discharged from hospital.
Interventions
In addition to usual care, the ADEPT intervention group will receive smoking cessation support delivered using mobile phones daily over 4 weeks post-discharge. The intervention ADEPT - an automated package of digital therapies, comprise of text messages that provides motivational and distraction messages, medication [e.g. NRT] reminders and referral to Quitline or GP if desired. All intervention participants will receive a tailored programme of text messages (SMS) via their mobile phone with evi
In addition to usual care, the ADEPT intervention group will receive smoking cessation support delivered using mobile phones daily over 4 weeks post-discharge. The intervention ADEPT - an automated package of digital therapies, comprise of text messages that provides motivational and distraction messages, medication [e.g. NRT] reminders and referral to Quitline or GP if desired. All intervention participants will receive a tailored programme of text messages (SMS) via their mobile phone with evidence-based information on interventions/actions that will reduce risk of subsequent events (e.g., education about risk factors, the impact changes can have on their risk, and getting help for stopping smoking). The intervention will be delivered via SMS, because this medium is readily available to all mobile phone users, is inexpensive, and requires minimal technological ‘know how’. Each participant in the intervention group will receive 3 messages per day for the first week after discharge from hospital, when the risk of relapse to smoking is greatest; 1 message per day for the second week; and 2-3 messages per week for the remaining two weeks. The intervention will be predominantly unidirectional. All participants will be offered brief training at enrolment on how to read a text message and how to delete or save messages. This will be delivered by the research nurse and be approximately 5 minutes in duration.
Sponsors
National Institute for Health Innovation, The University of Auckland
Study design
Allocation
Randomised controlled trial
Intervention model
Parallel
Primary purpose
Treatment
Masking
Open (masking not used)
Eligibility
Sex/Gender
All
Age
18 Years to No maximum
Healthy volunteers
No
Inclusion criteria
Patients will be eligible for enrollment in the study if they are aged 18 years and over; identify on admission to hospital as being current (daily and non-daily) cigarette smokers; have a mobile phone recorded in their admission record; can understand and write English; and provide informed consent and agree to be available for follow up over the next 3 months.
Exclusion criteria
Patients will be excluded if they have an unstable mental health condition or other severe ill health; have serious sensory deficits involving speech and hearing; and/or do not have ready access to a mobile phone.
Outcome results
None listed