Abstract A08: Leveraging technology to promote smoking cessation in primary care medical offices

Purpose of the Study: While smoking represents the leading preventable cause of premature morbidity and mortality in the U.S., research has demonstrated that only a limited scope of cessation services are delivered to patients in many medical offices. We examined the use of an automated voice recognition (AVR) messaging intervention among smokers from primary care practices located in underserved urban and rural communities as a strategy to promote smoking cessation.

Methods: We utilized community-based participatory research (CBPR) involving smokers as a foundation for creating AVR messaging and partnered with urban and rural primary care medical office sites (n=7), including community clinics and federally qualified health centers. Current smokers, 18 years and older, who had an office visit within the previous 12 months, from these sites were used to create a smoker's registry (n=5,872). Between 2012 and 2014 participants were contacted over six month intervals using the AVR system. Smoker's registry data including demographic variables, medical office, and phone contact information. AVR results from each practice were aggregated and analyzed to assess cessation outcomes.

Results: Of the seven practice sites, a total of 5,872 smokers were accrued of whom 1,899 (32%) were reached through the AVR system. The average number of calls to smokers was 44 (median 51). 28% of the smokers reached were African American, 79% were age 40 and over, and 57% were female. Self-reported quit rates among reached smokers were 30%; quit rates were variable across selected variables.

Conclusions: An AVR based smoking cessation intervention provided added value beyond typical tobacco cessation efforts available in these primary care offices. This intervention required no additional clinical staff time and served to satisfy a component of patient center medical home requirements for many of these practices. Building partnerships with primary care medical offices can aid in the development and testing of community-based interventions such as smoking cessation delivered to medically underserved and diverse patient populations.

Citation Format: Frances G. Saad-Harfouche, Elisa M. Rodriguez, Annamaria Masucci Twarozek, Christy A. Widman, Deborah O. Erwin, Willie Underwood, III, Chester Fox, Martin C. Mahoney. Leveraging technology to promote smoking cessation in primary care medical offices. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the Ninth AACR Conference on the Science of Cancer Health Disparities in Racial/Ethnic Minorities and the Medically Underserved; 2016 Sep 25-28; Fort Lauderdale, FL. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev 2017;26(2 Suppl):Abstract nr A08.