Grant Number:	1R01CA315811-01 Interpret this number
Primary Investigator:	Businelle, Michael
Organization:	University Of Oklahoma Hlth Sciences Ctr
Project Title:	A Novel Intervention to Increase Smoking Quit Attempts and Cessation Among Adults Initially Unready to Quit
Fiscal Year:	2026

PROJECT SUMMARY Smoking is the leading preventable cause of death and disease in the United States (US). Although the prevalence of smoking has declined over the past 6 decades, approximately 1 in 8 US adults continue to smoke. Most people who smoke indicate that they want to quit smoking at some point in the future, but only 20% report readiness to quit within the next 30 days. There are no scalable interventions that successfully increase quit attempts and smoking abstinence in those who report not being ready to quit smoking in the next 30 days. Our completed Phoenix pilot trial enrolled 152 adults who were not ready to quit smoking in the next 30 days into a 3-group randomized controlled trial. Participants randomized into one of the two Phoenix groups received two daily messages that were tailored to their current smoking cessation stage (i.e., Motivation, Pre-Cessation, Cessation, and Maintenance; see Phase-Based Model (PBM) of tobacco treatment). For example, participants received messages that focused on the benefits of quitting and increasing self-efficacy for quitting during the Motivation phase, and received tailored messages that aimed to increase coping with currently reported smoking lapse triggers during the Cessation Phase. Those randomized to the control group (i.e., Factoid group) received two daily fact-based messages. Upon setting a quit date, all participants received easy access (one click) to available smoking cessation resources (e.g., state smoking cessation quitline). Compared to those randomized to the Factoid group, those randomized to the Phoenix conditions were ~4 times more likely to set a quit date (p<.01), set their first quit date sooner (p=.01), and were 2.5 times more likely to report 7-day point prevalence abstinence at 26 weeks (p>.05, ns). Our pilot study showed that the Phoenix intervention is feasible and increased quit attempts when compared to an attention control group. The proposed fully powered randomized controlled trial (N=1072) will determine efficacy of the Phoenix intervention compared with an Enhanced Standard of Care Digital intervention (eSOC) on biochemically-verified smoking abstinence in a nationwide sample of smokers not ready to quit in the next 30 days. eSOC will include a digital version of the Ask, Advise, Connect paradigm. Study Aim 1 will determine the effect of intervention condition (eSOC vs. Phoenix; n=536 per group) on biochemically-verified 7-day point prevalence smoking abstinence 52 weeks after study enrollment. Study Aim 2 will determine the effect of the Phoenix intervention on setting and initiating quit attempts relative to the eSOC condition. The exploratory Aim will identify variables that mediate the effect of the interventions on quit attempts and abstinence. If effective, this innovative and highly scalable smartphone-based intervention would offer a convenient, disseminable, and readily available resource to induce cessation attempts and provide tailored support that is matched to participants’ current phase of the cessation process.





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