Results of a Feasibility Study of Helpers Stay Quit Training for Smoking Relapse Prevention.
Thursday, April 15, 2021
Posted by: Natalia Gromov
Myra
L Muramoto, Allison Hopkins, Melanie Bell, Alicia Allen, Uma Nair, Timothy E
Connolly.
Results of a Feasibility
Study of Helpers Stay Quit Training for Smoking Relapse Prevention.
Nicotine & Tobacco Research, Volume 23, Issue 4, April 2021, Pages 711–715,
https://doi.org/10.1093/ntr/ntaa176
Introduction. Most
smoking quit attempts end in relapse, and interventions focused on relapse
prevention are lacking. Helpers Stay Quit (HSQ) is a novel behavioral relapse
prevention intervention that teaches newly abstinent smokers to offer a
“helping conversation” (HC) to help others quit tobacco.
Methods. Pre-post
intervention feasibility study with state quitline participants ≥14 days
abstinent. Measures at baseline, 3 months, and 6 months included smoking
status, offering HCs, and cessation self-efficacy. Primary outcomes:
self-reported 7-day point prevalence abstinence; offering HCs. Cox models
explored association of HCs with relapse. Preliminary effects analysis using
propensity score matching compared 30-day abstinence of quitline clients with
study sample at 7 months.
Results. Participants
(N = 104) were as follows: mean age of 53 years (SD 13.9 years), 48.1% male,
mean of cigarettes smoked/day of 16.2 (SD 9.7). Compared with participants who
remained abstinent (n = 82), relapsers (n = 22) had fewer HCs over 6 months
(2.6 vs 7.2; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.4, 7.8, p = .006). Using adjusted
Cox regression, the hazard ratio of relapse for each HC was 0.85 (95% CI: 0.74,
0.99, p = .03). Compared with a matched sample of quitline clients not exposed
to HSQ, study participants were 49% more likely to report 30-day abstinence at
7-month quitline follow-up (95% CI: 40%, 59%, p < .0001).
Conclusions. HSQ,
delivered to newly abstinent smokers who received standard quitline treatment,
was associated with less self-reported relapse. These promising preliminary study
results warrant further research to evaluate HSQ as a novel behavioral
intervention to prevent smoking relapse.
Implications. To
date, behavioral interventions for smoking relapse prevention that teach
abstainers cessation skills to apply to themselves have not shown
effectiveness. This feasibility study examines the preliminary efficacy of a
conceptually novel, “help others” behavioral intervention approach for relapse
prevention in newly abstinent smokers recruited from a state quitline. HSQ
teaches the newly abstinent smoker communication and listening skills to
encourage other smokers in their personal social network to quit. Exploratory
analysis using propensity score matching suggests that participants exposed to
HSQ were significantly more likely to self-report 30-day abstinence at quitline
7-month follow-up than other quitline clients.
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