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A Stepped Care Approach to Treating Tobacco Use in Rural Veterans

A Stepped Care Approach to Treating Tobacco Use in Rural Veterans

Status
Not yet recruiting
Phases
Phase 2Phase 3
Study type
Interventional
Source
ClinicalTrials.gov
Registry ID
NCT04501016
Acronym
Stepped Care
Enrollment
100
Registered
2020-08-06
Start date
2020-09-30
Completion date
2023-09-30
Last updated
2020-08-06

For informational purposes only — not medical advice. Sourced from public registries and may not reflect the latest updates. Terms

Conditions

Tobacco Cessation

Brief summary

Tobacco use remains prevalent among Veterans. Although effective smoking cessation interventions exist, long-term term quit rates remain sub-optimal. The project will investigate the feasibility of a stepped care approach to treating tobacco use that includes enhancements based on initial response to treatment to augment the investigators' existing tailored tobacco treatment intervention.

Detailed description

Rural tobacco users (cigarette smokers, smokeless tobacco users, and users of other forms of tobacco) from the Iowa City VA Health Care System will be proactively recruited using information obtained from the electronic medical record. All participants will receive the investigators' tailored, six session smoking cessation intervention developed over a series of projects funded by ORH. This includes a counseling protocol tailored to tobacco users' individual needs and associated risk factors as well as pharmacotherapy selected using shared decision making. Participants who are unable to quit initially will be provided with enhanced counseling based on self-monitoring and scheduled reduced smoking. Those who are able to quit using tobacco during the initial treatment phase will be given an extended, four-session counseling protocol that incorporates new content based on established interventions from positive psychology in an effort to reduce relapse.

Interventions

Participants will initially receive a six-session telephone intervention. Standard cognitive behavioral treatment strategies will be included. Participants will be screened for elevated depressive symptoms, risky alcohol use, and concerns about weight and and offered supplemental behavioral counseling related to these issues as appropriate. Those that are unable to quit tobacco initially will receive an enhanced, four-session counseling module focused on reduced scheduled smoking. Those who do quit tobacco use initially will receive four sessions of extended counseling based on positive psychology intervention strategies.

DRUGTobacco cessation pharmacotherapy

Pharmacotherapy will be selected based on medical and psychiatric history and potential interactions with other current medications combined with shared decision making. Options will include nicotine gum (2 and 4 mg), nicotine lozenge (2 and 4 mg), nicotine patch (7, 14, and 21 mg), bupropion (150 mg twice daily) and varenicline (1 mg twice daily). Monotherapy and combination therapy options will be provided.

Sponsors

US Department of Veterans Affairs
CollaboratorFED
Iowa City Veterans Affairs Medical Center
Lead SponsorFED

Study design

Allocation
NA
Intervention model
SINGLE_GROUP
Primary purpose
TREATMENT
Masking
NONE

Intervention model description

All tobacco users will receive a tailored pharmacological and behavioral intervention. The specific counseling protocol will vary depending upon their response to treatment and initial success with quitting.

Eligibility

Sex/Gender
ALL
Age
18 Years to 99 Years
Healthy volunteers
Yes

Inclusion criteria

* Use tobacco (cigarettes, smokeless tobacco, pipes, cigars, hookah) on a daily basis * Be willing to make a quit attempt in the next 30 days * Able to provide informed consent * Have access to a telephone * Have a stable residence,

Exclusion criteria

* Planning to move within the next 6 months * Terminal illness * Unstable psychiatric disorder (e.g., acute psychosis)

Design outcomes

Primary

MeasureTime frameDescription
Tobacco cessation6 months7-day point prevalence tobacco cessation

Secondary

MeasureTime frameDescription
Tobacco cessation3 months7-day point prevalence tobacco cessation
Salivary cotinine levels (in ng/ml)6 monthsSalivary cotinine

Other

MeasureTime frameDescription
Level of satisfaction with the intervention as measured according to a five-point scale (extremely, very, moderately, slightly, not at all)3 monthsSelf-reported satisfaction with the intervention according to the dimensions of usefulness, convenience, difficulty, liking, and helpfulness using five response options (extremely, very, moderately, slightly, not at all) using a scale developed specifically for the project.

Countries

United States

Contacts

Primary ContactTheresa Morano, MS
theresa.morano@va.gov319-338-0581

Outcome results

None listed

Source: ClinicalTrials.gov · Data processed: Feb 4, 2026