Smoking Cessation
Conditions
Keywords
Smoking, Social Media, Twitter, Behavior Change, Social Support
Brief summary
Tweet2Quit is an innovative smoking cessation intervention that combines real-time online peer-to-peer support with auto messaging. In a three-group randomized controlled trial, the investigators will compare: 1) usual care, 2) Tweet2Quit-coed, and 3) Tweet2Quit-Women only.
Detailed description
The proposed randomized controlled evaluation of the Tweet2Quit intervention will biochemically verify abstinence out to 6-months follow-up and will test the personalized benefit for women of a women-only versus co-ed Tweet2Quit group. In a 3-arm design, the investigators will compare: 1) usual care, 2) Tweet2Quit-coed, and 3) Tweet2Quit-Women only. Each Tweet2Quit group will include buddy pairs based on similarity in demographics. Also automated pattern detection will identify dips in tweeting and trigger automated alerts and engagement strategies. The sample consists of 960 adult smokers plus 20 in an initial pilot group to check technology functionality (not included in outcome assessment). The primary aims test Hypothesis 1: Relative to usual care (n=240), Tweet2Quit-coed groups (n=480) will achieve significantly greater bioconfirmed sustained abstinence out to 6-months follow-up for each gender, and Hypothesis 2: Women in Tweet2Quit will achieve significantly greater bioconfirmed 6-months abstinence in woman-only groups (n=240) vs. coed groups (n=240 women). Our secondary aims are to test the same hypotheses based on 3-month (end of treatment) sustained abstinence and 7-day point prevalence at 1, 3, and 6 months with biochemical verification at 3 and 6 months. Exploratory aims will study the Tweet2Quit groups' social network structures with a focus on the identification of buddy pairs and social brokers and test if these relationships are stronger for women in women-only groups versus women in coed groups of Tweet2Quit. \*Prior to the start of the RCT, the investigators will run one coed pilot group (N=20). Total size of the study (including the pilot group) will be N=980.
Interventions
DRUGNRT
8-weeks of study provided NRT patch, and 8-weeks of study provided NRT gum of varying strengths or 8-weeks of study provided NRT lozenges, depending on patient level of nicotine dependence.
BEHAVIORALWeb Guide
A website that will provide participants with access to an evidence-based set of base treatment materials in one central location. The site will include information on the proper use of nicotine patches, gum, lozenges, and it will have a direct link for participants to access the NCI's Smokefree.gov Quit Guide. The website will remind participants about quit dates and send alerts via email to participants to complete the appropriate NCI Quit Guide modules.
BEHAVIORALTweet2Quit
A fully automated, 90-day quit smoking intervention that provides an online, peer-to-peer support group for quitting and uses twice-daily automessages to encourage and direct the peer-to-peer exchanges. Each group will consist of 12 buddy pairs (matched on key demographics) that will be introduced via automated texts. The program will generate twice-daily programmed contacts (e.g., what benefits do you hope to get from quitting smoking?). Automated pattern detection software will identify and address any problematic low tweeting within a group.
Sponsors
Stanford University
National Cancer Institute (NCI)
University of California, Irvine
Study design
Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Intervention model
PARALLEL
Primary purpose
TREATMENT
Masking
NONE
Eligibility
Sex/Gender
ALL
Age
21 Years to 59 Years
Healthy volunteers
Yes
Inclusion criteria
* Are 21-59 years of age * Are smoking 5+ cigarettes/day and 100+ cigarettes in one's lifetime * In the preparation stage of quitting smoking * Are English speaking * Have a mobile phone with an unlimited texting plan and internet access (via mobile phone) * Text at least once a week * Are a social media user * Have an active email account * Lives in the continental USA
Exclusion criteria
* Have certain medical conditions that are contraindicated for nicotine replacement therapy: pregnant, breast feeding, a recent heart attack, an irregular heartbeat, high blood pressure not controlled with medication, skin allergies to adhesive tape or serious skin problems, taking a prescription medicine for depression, and/or any other medical conditions that would prevent you from completing this study. * Are an illicit hard drug user or regular marijuana user * Share a household with someone else or has an immediate family member who has already enrolled in the study currently or in the past or if the participant has already been enrolled or failed to pass the screening once already since October 2016 * Participated in Tweet2Quit between 2012-2013 in a Twitter group and was not an active tweeter (\<1 week) * Fails to provide valid forms of all the required personal contact information
Design outcomes
Primary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Percentage of Participants With a 6-month Sustained Abstinence | 6 Month | Percentage of participants who reported no use of tobacco products by answering the questions: 'How many cigarettes have you smoked', 'How many other tobacco products have you used', and 'How many times have you used e-cigs' since the quit date (assessed at 1, 3 and 6 months post quit date) confirmed by salivary cotinine measurement (assessed at 3 and 6 months post quit date). Note: We will apply the Russell Standard for abstinence, allowing 5 or fewer instances of tobacco use over 6 months. In our primary (most rigorous) analysis, we will consider a cotinine-positive test, regardless of source, to be non-abstinent. In additional analyses, we will code as abstinent those who assert tobacco abstinence but continue use of FDA-approved nicotine replacement therapy. In other analyses we will report results with ENDS-only users coded first as non-abstinent and then for comparison as abstinent. |
Countries
United States
Participant flow
Pre-assignment details
Participants enrolled in the coed pilot group arm (N=20), as preplanned, were not contacted for follow-up assessments. The pilot group arm was included solely to test the technical setup of the online support groups, e.g., to make sure the automated messaging and automated buddy pairing were working properly. The pilot group arm was never intended to be included in the outcome assessments.
Participants by arm
| Arm | Count |
|---|---|
| NRT + Web Guide NCI Smokefree.gov plus 8 weeks of combination NRT (nicotine patch plus gum/lozenges)
NRT: 8-weeks of study provided NRT patch, and 8-weeks of study provided NRT gum of varying strengths or 8-weeks of study provided NRT lozenges, depending on patient level of nicotine dependence.
Web Guide: A website that will provide participants with access to an evidence-based set of base treatment materials in one central location. The site will include information on the proper use of nicotine patches, gum, lozenges, and it will have a direct link for participants to access the NCI's Smokefree.gov Quit Guide. The website will remind participants about quit dates and send alerts via email to participants to complete the appropriate NCI Quit Guide modules. | 240 |
| NRT + Web Guide + Tweet2Quit-Coed NCI Smokefree.gov plus 8 weeks of combination NRT (nicotine patch plus gum/lozenges) plus assignment to a coed Tweet2Quit group
NRT: 8-weeks of study provided NRT patch, and 8-weeks of study provided NRT gum of varying strengths or 8-weeks of study provided NRT lozenges, depending on patient level of nicotine dependence.
Web Guide: A website that will provide participants with access to an evidence-based set of base treatment materials in one central location. The site will include information on the proper use of nicotine patches, gum, lozenges, and it will have a direct link for participants to access the NCI's Smokefree.gov Quit Guide. The website will remind participants about quit dates and send alerts via email to participants to complete the appropriate NCI Quit Guide modules.
Tweet2Quit: A fully automated, 90-day quit smoking intervention that provides an online, peer-to-peer support group for quitting and uses twice-daily automessages to encourage and direct the peer-to-peer exchanges. Each group will consist of 12 buddy pairs (matched on key demographics) that will be introduced via automated texts. The program will generate twice-daily programmed contacts (e.g., what benefits do you hope to get from quitting smoking?). Automated pattern detection software will identify and address any problematic low tweeting within a group. | 480 |
| NRT + Web Guide + Tweet2Quit-Women Experimental: NRT + Web Guide + Tweet2Quit-Women NCI Smokefree.gov plus 8 weeks of combination NRT (nicotine patch plus gum/lozenges) plus assignment to a women-only Tweet2Quit group
NRT: 8-weeks of study provided NRT patch, and 8-weeks of study provided NRT gum of varying strengths or 8-weeks of study provided NRT lozenges, depending on patient level of nicotine dependence.
Web Guide: A website that will provide participants with access to an evidence-based set of base treatment materials in one central location. The site will include information on the proper use of nicotine patches, gum, lozenges, and it will have a direct link for participants to access the NCI's Smokefree.gov Quit Guide. The website will remind participants about quit dates and send alerts via email to participants to complete the appropriate NCI Quit Guide modules.
Tweet2Quit: A fully automated, 90-day quit smoking intervention that provides an online, peer-to-peer support group for quitting and uses twice-daily automessages to encourage and direct the peer-to-peer exchanges. Each group will consist of 12 buddy pairs (matched on key demographics) that will be introduced via automated texts. The program will generate twice-daily programmed contacts (e.g., what benefits do you hope to get from quitting smoking?). Automated pattern detection software will identify and address any problematic low tweeting within a group. | 240 |
| Pilot A coed pilot group was run to test the support groups functionality only. Outcome measures were not obtained on the coed pilot group; only baseline measures were obtained. | 20 |
| Total | 980 |
Baseline characteristics
| Characteristic | NRT + Web Guide | NRT + Web Guide + Tweet2Quit-Coed | NRT + Web Guide + Tweet2Quit-Women | Pilot | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Age, Categorical <=18 years | 0 Participants | 0 Participants | 0 Participants | 0 Participants | 0 Participants |
| Age, Categorical >=65 years | 0 Participants | 0 Participants | 0 Participants | 0 Participants | 0 Participants |
| Age, Categorical Between 18 and 65 years | 240 Participants | 480 Participants | 240 Participants | 20 Participants | 980 Participants |
| Age, Continuous | 40.37 years STANDARD_DEVIATION 9.685 | 39.04 years STANDARD_DEVIATION 9.524 | 39.75 years STANDARD_DEVIATION 9.45 | 39 years STANDARD_DEVIATION 9 | 39.55 years STANDARD_DEVIATION 9.552 |
| Cigarettes/Day | 17.8 cigarettes/day STANDARD_DEVIATION 8.4 | 17.3 cigarettes/day STANDARD_DEVIATION 7.7 | 17.8 cigarettes/day STANDARD_DEVIATION 7.2 | 17 cigarettes/day STANDARD_DEVIATION 8 | 17.6 cigarettes/day STANDARD_DEVIATION 7.7 |
| Ethnicity (NIH/OMB) Hispanic or Latino | 10 Participants | 21 Participants | 6 Participants | 2 Participants | 39 Participants |
| Ethnicity (NIH/OMB) Not Hispanic or Latino | 228 Participants | 454 Participants | 232 Participants | 18 Participants | 932 Participants |
| Ethnicity (NIH/OMB) Unknown or Not Reported | 2 Participants | 5 Participants | 2 Participants | 0 Participants | 9 Participants |
| Race (NIH/OMB) American Indian or Alaska Native | 5 Participants | 4 Participants | 1 Participants | 0 Participants | 10 Participants |
| Race (NIH/OMB) Asian | 3 Participants | 5 Participants | 2 Participants | 0 Participants | 10 Participants |
| Race (NIH/OMB) Black or African American | 21 Participants | 55 Participants | 22 Participants | 2 Participants | 100 Participants |
| Race (NIH/OMB) More than one race | 2 Participants | 13 Participants | 2 Participants | 0 Participants | 17 Participants |
| Race (NIH/OMB) Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander | 0 Participants | 1 Participants | 0 Participants | 0 Participants | 1 Participants |
| Race (NIH/OMB) Unknown or Not Reported | 2 Participants | 5 Participants | 3 Participants | 0 Participants | 10 Participants |
| Race (NIH/OMB) White | 207 Participants | 397 Participants | 210 Participants | 18 Participants | 832 Participants |
| Region of Enrollment United States | 240 participants | 480 participants | 240 participants | 20 participants | 980 participants |
| Sex: Female, Male Female | 167 Participants | 338 Participants | 240 Participants | 14 Participants | 759 Participants |
| Sex: Female, Male Male | 73 Participants | 142 Participants | 0 Participants | 6 Participants | 221 Participants |
Adverse events
| Event type | EG000 affected / at risk | EG001 affected / at risk | EG002 affected / at risk | EG003 affected / at risk |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| deaths Total, all-cause mortality | 0 / 240 | 0 / 480 | 0 / 240 | 0 / 20 |
| other Total, other adverse events | 0 / 240 | 0 / 480 | 0 / 240 | 0 / 20 |
| serious Total, serious adverse events | 0 / 240 | 0 / 480 | 0 / 240 | 0 / 20 |
Outcome results
Primary
Percentage of Participants With a 6-month Sustained Abstinence
Percentage of participants who reported no use of tobacco products by answering the questions: 'How many cigarettes have you smoked', 'How many other tobacco products have you used', and 'How many times have you used e-cigs' since the quit date (assessed at 1, 3 and 6 months post quit date) confirmed by salivary cotinine measurement (assessed at 3 and 6 months post quit date). Note: We will apply the Russell Standard for abstinence, allowing 5 or fewer instances of tobacco use over 6 months. In our primary (most rigorous) analysis, we will consider a cotinine-positive test, regardless of source, to be non-abstinent. In additional analyses, we will code as abstinent those who assert tobacco abstinence but continue use of FDA-approved nicotine replacement therapy. In other analyses we will report results with ENDS-only users coded first as non-abstinent and then for comparison as abstinent.
Time frame: 6 Month
| Arm | Measure | Value (COUNT_OF_PARTICIPANTS) |
|---|---|---|
| NRT + Web Guide | Percentage of Participants With a 6-month Sustained Abstinence | 23 Participants |
| NRT + Web Guide + Tweet2Quit-Coed | Percentage of Participants With a 6-month Sustained Abstinence | 45 Participants |
| NRT + Web Guide + Tweet2Quit-Women | Percentage of Participants With a 6-month Sustained Abstinence | 18 Participants |
p-value: 0.779Chi-squared