Comparative Effectiveness of Post-Discharge Strategies for Hospitalized Smokers (Helping HAND2)

Cigarette smoking is the leading preventable cause of death in the U.S. The 2008 US Public Health Service Smoking Cessation Guideline recommends offering effective treatment to smokers in all health care settings, including hospitals. Nearly 4 million smokers are hospitalized each year, and hospital admission offers a "teachable moment" for intervention. Hospital-initiated smoking cessation intervention is effective, but only if contact continues for more than 1 month after discharge. The challenge is to translate this research into clinical practice by identifying an evidence-based cost-effective model that U.S. hospitals can adopt. The major barrier is sustaining contact after discharge. This project tests an innovative strategy to streamline the delivery and maximize the uptake of post-discharge smoking interventions. Specific Aim: To test the effectiveness of an innovative strategy to maximize smokers' use of evidence-based tobacco treatment (counseling and medication) after hospital discharge, thereby increasing the proportion of smokers who achieve long-term (6-month) tobacco abstinence. Study Design: A multi-site randomized controlled comparative effectiveness trial will enroll 1350 adult smokers admitted to 3 acute care hospitals in Massachusetts and Pennsylvania. All subjects will receive a brief in-hospital smoking intervention and be randomly assigned at discharge to either Standard Care (passive referral to their state quitline) or Extended Care, a 3-month program consisting of (1) Free Medication: A 30-day supply of FDA-approved medication (nicotine replacement, bupropion, or varenicline) given at hospital discharge and refillable for a total of 90 days to encourage medication use and adherence; (2) Interactive Voice Response (IVR) Triage to Telephone Counseling from a national quitline provider. IVR aims to encourage medication adherence and enhance counseling efficiency by identifying smokers who need post-discharge support. Immediate transfer of a patient from automated IVR call to live telephone counselor will facilitate a successful connection to counseling. Outcomes, assessed at 1, 3, and 6 months after hospital discharge, are: (1) intervention effectiveness (cotinine-validated 7-day point-prevalence tobacco abstinence rate at 6 month follow-up [primary outcome] and other tobacco abstinence measures); (2) treatment utilization, and (3) cost-effectiveness (cost per quit). Exploratory analyses will examine the intervention's effect on hospital readmissions and mortality in the 6 months after discharge.

At discharge, the participant receives the standard care provided by the hospital. This consists of a handout with information to contact the state telephone quitline for additional smoking cessation support and to use smoking cessation medication as recommended by the hospital smoking counselor.

A 3-month program after hospital discharge with these 2 components: (1) Free Medication and (2) Interactive Voice Response (IVR) Triage to Telephone Counseling.

A 3-month program after hospital discharge with these 2 components: (1) Free Medication - A 30-day supply of FDA-approved medication (nicotine replacement, bupropion, or varenicline) given at hospital discharge and refillable for a total of 90 days to encourage medication use and adherence; (2) Interactive Voice Response (IVR) Triage to Telephone Counseling from a national quitline provider (Alere Wellbeing, Inc., previously Free & Clear). IVR aims to encourage medication adherence and enhance counseling efficiency by identifying smokers who need post-discharge support. Immediate transfer of a patient from automated IVR call to live telephone counselor will facilitate a successful connection to counseling.

Standard care consists of a handout with information about how to contact the state telephone quitline for additional smoking cessation support and to use smoking cessation medication as recommended by the hospital smoking counselor.

Continuous tobacco abstinence after hospital discharge assessed by self-report at 1, 3, and 6 months.

Self-reported number of days in which a participant was abstinent from tobacco after hospital discharge, by self-report, obtained from surveys done at 1 month, 3 months, and 6 months. Patient can only relapse once but it can occur at any point up to 6 months after discharge. Therefore, the data point can come from either the 1 or 3 or 6 month follow-up depending on when relapse occurred.

Use of either FDA-approved pharmacotherapy for tobacco dependence (nicotine replacement therapy, bupropion, or varenicline), or psychosocial support (including telephone counseling, in person counseling, web-based counseling, physician counseling).

Inclusion Criteria: Cigarette smoker (smoked at least 1 cigarette in the month before hospital admission and at least 1 cigarette per day when smoking at baseline rate in the month before hospital admission) Counseled by hospital smoking counselor during hospital stay Plans to stop smoking tobacco products after hospital discharge Agrees to take home a supply of smoking cessation medication after discharge Agrees to and able to accept telephone calls after hospital discharge Exclusion Criteria: No access to a telephone or unable to communicate by telephone Severe psychiatric or neurologic disease precluding ability to provide informed consent and to be counseled Pregnant, nursing, or planning to become pregnant in next 3 months Unable to speak English Medical instability precluding study participation

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