Tech and Telephone Smoking Cessation Treatment for Young Veterans With PTSD

This project aims to enhance the scalability of an office-based smoking cessation treatment protocol for veterans with PTSD, integrated care (IC), by adapting it to be delivered over the telephone and to incorporate mobile technology components. Mobile technology components include: (1) the Stay Quit Coach (SQC) mobile application (app), and (2) the iCO® mobile Smokerlyzer®, a smart phone-compatible carbon monoxide monitor.

Study Overview

• Status: Completed
• Conditions: Smoking Cessation
• Intervention / Treatment: Behavioral: Tech-Facilitated IC Intervention; Behavioral: VA Quitline

Detailed Description

Eighty U.S. military veteran smokers with PTSD, ages 18-45, will be randomized to receive either: (1) the telephone-and technology-facilitated intervention (n=40), or (2) the current standard of care (referral to the VA telephone Quitline) (n=40) as a control. All participants will receive a baseline (Week 0) office visit and will optionally be prescribed nicotine replacement therapy (NRT). Participants in the intervention condition will receive eight 20- to 30-minute video or telephone counseling sessions and be asked to use the SQC app and iCO® Mobile Smokerlyzer®. Control participants will receive up to eight weekly proactive telephone sessions through the VA telephone Quitline. Assessments will occur at baseline (Week 0), treatment end (Week 8), and at three months (Week 12) and six months (Week 24) post-randomization. The primary aims of this pilot randomized controlled trial are: (1) to assess the feasibility and acceptability of the intervention; and (2) to assess the impact of the adapted IC intervention on treatment retention compared to treatment as usual (i.e., VA Quitline).

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Actual): 65
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• United States
  • California
    • San Francisco, California, United States, 94121
      • San Francisco VA Medical Center

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: 18 years to 45 years (Adult)
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: No

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

1. Male and female veterans eligible for VA services
2. Ages 18 to 45 (inclusive)
3. Meets lifetime criteria for PTSD using the The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition (DSM-V)
4. Smoked at least 5 cigarettes per day for 15 of the past 30 days
5. Interested in smoking cessation and willing to receive interventions
6. A smartphone (iOS or Android) user and comfortable using a smartphone
7. Females must have a negative urine pregnancy test and must be practicing an effective method of birth control (e.g., surgically sterile, spermicide with barrier, male partner sterilization; or abstinent and agrees to continue abstinence or to use an acceptable method of contraception, as listed above, should sexual activity commence)
8. Ability to attend screening appointment in-person or via V-tel at San Francisco Veteran's Medical Center (SFVAMC) or an associated clinic and participate in 8 weekly sessions, follow-up sessions at Weeks 12 and 24, and monthly nicotine replacement check-ins

Modified inclusion criteria for remote screenings during Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic:

7. Female participants will be required to provide a negative urine pregnancy test if they do not have a verified and reliable form of birth control (at the discretion of the PI). Pregnancy tests will be mailed to the participant and they will be asked to take a photo of the completed test and send it through an encrypted e-mail back to the study team in order to determine eligibility. Participants may also choose to complete urine pregnancy testing at VA lab. This will occur after verbal consent is given.

8. No longer required to be able to attend in-person screening appointment as everything will be done remotely. Potential recruits will need the ability to participate in telephone or secure, 2-way video conferencing "visits" for: Consent and Screening (Week 0), 8 weekly sessions, follow-up sessions at Weeks 12 and 24, and monthly nicotine replacement check-ins.

Exclusion Criteria:

1. Current, unstable psychotic or bipolar disorders
2. Dementia
3. Current, severe substance use disorder (SUD) deemed to be unstable by the study physician; individuals with SUD are eligible if their SUD is assessed to be in partial or full remission for 30 days or more at the time of screening, as assessed by Mini International Neuropsychiatric Interview (MINI) , chart review, and the principal investigator (PI).
4. Other psychiatric disorders judged to be unstable in the clinical judgment of the PI or study physician
5. Clinically significant unstable medical conditions, in the clinical judgment of the PI or study physician.
6. Female participants who are pregnant, intend to become pregnant during the study period, and/or are not using an effective method of birth control.
7. Concurrent participation in another smoking cessation study.

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: Treatment
• Allocation: Randomized
• Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
• Masking: Double

Number of Arms

2

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Tech-facilitated IC intervention; After completing an initial 2-hour screening visit that includes a series of questionnaires assessing eligibility criteria and meeting with the study physician to review medical history, participants will be offered nicotine replacement therapy (NRT) at baseline (Week 0), per VA prescribing guidelines, nicotine dependence levels, and participant preference. Participants will then receive 8 counseling sessions (video or telephone). The first session lasts 45-60 min, and the remaining 7 sessions last 20-30 min. Participants will be asked to use the Stay Quit Coach (SQC) app between sessions, and the iCO® Smokerlyzer®	Behavioral: Tech-Facilitated IC Intervention; The Integrated Care (IC) treatment protocol for smoking cessation is a PTSD-informed intervention that has been adapted to be delivered over video or telephone and to incorporate technological components, including the Stay Quit Coach (SQC) smart phone application (app) which is a public domain, no-cost mobile app designed to complement the IC protocol with evidence-based tools to support smoking cessation. and the coVita Bedfont® Scientific Ltd iCO® Smokerlyzer® device and app which is a mobile carbon monoxide (CO) monitor that provides CO readings in order to self-monitor progress in quitting. The coVita mobile app is compatible with iOS &Android and used with the iCO® Smokerlyzer® to display CO readings. Content of sessions is consistent with that delivered in the IC treatment protocol for veteran smokers with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
Active Comparator: VA Quitline; After completing an initial 2-hour screening visit that includes a series of questionnaires assessing eligibility criteria and meeting with the study physician to review medical history, participants will be offered nicotine replacement therapy (NRT) at baseline (Week 0), per VA prescribing guidelines, nicotine dependence levels, and participant preference. Participants will also receive weekly proactive telephone sessions through the VA Quitline, a standard of care, proactive telephone quitline available to all veterans for up to eight weeks. Participants will initiate the first call and subsequent calls will be made by the Quitline counselor.	Behavioral: VA Quitline; The SFVAMC's standard of care referral service, known as the VA Quitline which involves weekly telephone sessions through the VA's proactive telephone Quitline, available to all veterans for up to 8 weeks.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Acceptability Questionnaire	Participants (in the intervention condition only) will complete a questionnaire developed by the investigators to rate the intervention protocol from 1-10 in terms of perceived helpfulness, understandability, and likelihood of use. The mean score (i.e., average of item ratings) will be reported for the participants in the intervention condition. Higher scores represent greater acceptability.	Week 8
Number of Participants Attending All Intervention Sessions	Number of participants attending all intervention sessions.	over 8-week intervention period; calculated at Week 8 (post-treatment)
The Difference in Total Number of Treatment Sessions Attended Between the Experimental Treatment Condition and the Control Condition	The difference in total number of treatment sessions attended between the experimental treatment condition and the control condition. Higher adherence rates suggest greater study/intervention feasibility and acceptability, and a large difference score would indicate greater feasibility/acceptability of one study condition over the other.	over 8-week intervention period; calculated at Week 8 (post-treatment)
Median Scores on the System Usability Scale (SUS)	The SUS is a brief, reliable and valid instrument to measure perceptions of usability of technology devices. Items are rated on a scale from 0-5. An SUS total score is calculated by summing item ratings, and then multiplied the sum by 2.5. The maximum score on the SUS is 100, with higher scores reflecting greater usability. The SUS will be administered to the intervention condition only. Mean usability score will be reported.	Week 8
Median Scores on the Client Satisfaction Questionnaire-8 (CSQ-8)	The CSQ-8 is an eight-item instrument designed to measure satisfaction with an clinical intervention. Items are rated on a scale from 1-4 and summed to for an CSQ-8 total score. Scores range from 8-32, with higher scores indicating greater satisfaction. The CSQ-8 will be administered to the intervention condition only. Mean satisfaction score will be reported.	Week 8 (post-treatment)

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Timeline Follow-Back (TLFB): E-cigarettes	Self-reported use of e-cigarettes will be assessed with TLFB (past 30 days), which uses a calendar with specific anchor dates to identify the quantity and frequency of use. This outcome variable will be reported as the difference in e-cigarette use between the experimental treatment condition and the control condition.	Weeks 0, 8, 12, and 24
Average Number of Cigarettes Smoked in the Past 30 Days at Weeks 0, 8, 12 and 24	Self-reported use of cigarettes will be assessed with Timeline Follow-Back (TLFB) (past 30 days), which uses a calendar with specific anchor dates to identify the quantity and frequency of use. This outcome variable will be reported as the difference in cigarette use between the experimental treatment condition and the control condition.	Weeks 0, 8, 12, and 24
Timeline Follow-Back (TLFB): Chewing Tobacco	Self-reported use of chewing tobacco will be assessed with TLFB (past 30 days), which uses a calendar with specific anchor dates to identify the quantity and frequency of use. This outcome variable will be reported as the difference in chewing tobacco use between the experimental treatment condition and the control condition.	Weeks 0, 8, 12, and 24
Change in Scores on the Fagerström Test for Nicotine Dependence (FTND)	The FTND is a validated, 6-item self-report instrument that evaluates the intensity of physical addiction to nicotine. Three items are rated yes/no (0/1), and the other three items are rated on a scale from 0-3. Items are summed to yield a total score of 0-10, with higher scores reflecting greater nicotine dependence. This outcome variable will be reported as the difference in FTND total score between the experimental treatment condition and the control condition.	Weeks 0, 8, 12, and 24
Biochemically Verified Point Prevalent Abstinence: 7-day	Seven-day point prevalence abstinence rates will be confirmed by salivary cotinine levels. This outcome variable will be reported as the difference in abstinence rates between the experimental treatment condition and the control condition	Weeks 12 and 24
Biochemically Verified Point Prevalence Abstinence: 30-day	30-day point prevalence abstinence rates will be confirmed by salivary cotinine levels. This outcome variable will be reported as the difference in abstinence rates between the experimental treatment condition and the control condition	Weeks 12 and 24
Change in Scores on the PTSD Checklist for DSM 5 (PCL-5)	The PCL-5 is a 20-item self-report measure that assesses the severity of the twenty DSM-V symptoms of PTSD. Items are rated on a 1-5 scale and summed to compute a total score, with higher scores representing greater severity of PTSD symptoms. The total score can range from 0 to 80. This outcome variable will be reported as the difference in PCL-5 total score between the experimental treatment condition and the control condition.	Weeks 0, 8, 12, and 24

Other Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Timeline Follow-Back (TLFB): Other Tobacco Products	Self-reported use of any other tobacco products will be assessed with TLFB (past 30 days), which uses a calendar with specific anchor dates to identify the quantity and frequency of use. This outcome variable will be reported as the difference in use of other tobacco products between the experimental treatment condition and the control condition.	Weeks 0, 8, 12, and 24
Proportion of Participants Recruited Based on Region	The difference in recruitment rates among residents of rural versus urban areas. Higher recruitment rates suggest greater study and intervention feasibility, and a large difference score would indicate greater feasibility based on type of residential area.	over 8-week intervention period; calculated at Week 8 (post-treatment)

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: University of California, San Francisco
• Collaborators: Northern California Institute of Research and Education; San Francisco Veterans Affairs Medical Center; Tobacco Related Disease Research Program
• Investigators: Principal Investigator: Ellen Herbst, MD, University of California, San Francisco

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): February 13, 2019
• Primary Completion (Actual): December 31, 2023
• Study Completion (Actual): December 31, 2023

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: May 29, 2018
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: May 29, 2018
• First Posted (Actual): June 12, 2018

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): April 9, 2025
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: March 21, 2025
• Last Verified: March 1, 2025

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Other Study ID Numbers: 17-22551; NCI-2022-09681 (Registry Identifier: NCI Clinical Trials Reporting Program (CTRP)); 22634 (Other Identifier: University of California, San Francisco)

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

• Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?: NO

Drug and device information, study documents

• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product: No
• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product: No
• product manufactured in and exported from the U.S.: No