A randomized controlled pilot trial of a smoking cessation intervention for US women living with HIV: telephone-based video call vs voice call

Abstract

BackgroundPeople living with HIV smoke at a rate three times that of the general population. This randomized controlled pilot trial tested the feasibility and acceptability of a video-call smoking cessation intervention in women living with HIV and its preliminary efficacy compared with a voice-call smoking cessation intervention. The study focused on women due to a paucity of studies among this population, and women are less likely than men to quit smoking when provided with conventional treatment.MethodsParticipants in both arms received an HIV-tailored smoking cessation intervention comprising eight 30-minute weekly counseling sessions in conjunction with active nicotine patches for 8 weeks. The only difference between the two arms was the delivery mode of the intervention: via either telephone-based video or voice call. Survival analysis and a Cox proportional hazard regression model were performed to identify factors predicting 6-month prolonged abstinence from smoking.ResultsA video-call intervention was almost 30% less feasible than a voice-call intervention because women in their 50s and 60s or poorer women living in some southern states did not have access to video-call equipment. However, those who received the video-call intervention were more likely to complete the study than those who had the voice-call intervention. There was no difference in the acceptability of the two interventions. A survival analysis revealed that those in the video arm were significantly more likely to maintain smoking abstinence over the 6-month follow-up period than those in the voice arm (log rank χ2=4.02, P<0.05).ConclusionAlthough a video-call intervention is less feasible than a voice-call intervention, the former seems to outperform the latter in achieving long-term smoking abstinence for women living with HIV, which may offer an advantage over establishing therapeutic alliance and visually monitoring their adherence to nicotine patches.Clinical trial registrationClinicalTrials.gov NCT02898597.

Acceptability of real-time video counselling compared to other behavioural interventions for smoking cessation in rural and remote areas

“…These findings suggest that video counselling is an acceptable mode for providing smoking cessation support to rural and remote residents. Similarly, studies among women living with HIV ( Kim et al, 2018 ), Korean American women ( Kim et al, 2016 ), and rural residents that travelled to a clinic to use the video equipment ( Richter et al, 2015 ) have reported that video counselling for smoking cessation is acceptable.…”

“…Three US studies have compared the acceptability of real-time video counselling to telephone counselling ( Kim et al, 2018 , 2016 ; Richter et al, 2015 ) and no studies have compared the acceptability of real-time video counselling to written materials. Two studies measured acceptability using the Client Satisfaction Questionnaire and found no significant differences between the video counselling and telephone counselling groups on acceptability scores ( Kim et al, 2018 , 2016 ). These studies targeted particular groups of smokers, specifically women living with HIV ( Kim et al, 2018 ) and Korean American women ( Kim et al, 2016 ).…”

“…Two studies measured acceptability using the Client Satisfaction Questionnaire and found no significant differences between the video counselling and telephone counselling groups on acceptability scores ( Kim et al, 2018 , 2016 ). These studies targeted particular groups of smokers, specifically women living with HIV ( Kim et al, 2018 ) and Korean American women ( Kim et al, 2016 ). The third study with rural residents measured satisfaction with counselling and the overall intervention and found the video counselling arm (97 %) was significantly more likely than the telephone counselling arm (92 %) to recommend the programme to friends/family ( Richter et al, 2015 ).…”

Connectivity of Real-Time Video Counselling Versus Telephone Counselling for Smoking Cessation in Rural and Remote Areas: An Exploratory Study

“…The opportunity to both see and hear the client during video-communication can result in a high level of engagement with the counsellor [17]. Three randomised trials conducted in the USA have compared video counselling to telephone counselling for smoking cessation [18][19][20]. In these studies, video counselling was offered to women living with HIV [18], Korean American women [19] and people living in rural areas [20].…”

“…Three randomised trials conducted in the USA have compared video counselling to telephone counselling for smoking cessation [18][19][20]. In these studies, video counselling was offered to women living with HIV [18], Korean American women [19] and people living in rural areas [20]. However, none of these trials examined the connectivity of the video counselling sessions compared to telephone counselling sessions.…”