Treatment Outcomes of a Multi-Component Mobile Health Smoking Cessation Pilot Intervention for People with Schizophrenia

Abstract

Objective

The objective of this study was to investigate the feasibility and acceptability of a multi-component mobile contingency management (CM) pilot intervention for smoking cessation for people with schizophrenia. Methods: This intervention included mobile CM (i.e., monetary compensation for bioverification of abstinence through using a phone app), cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), and pharmacotherapy for smoking cessation. This intervention was compared to an intensive treatment comparison (ITC), which contained all components except the CM. Participants were bioverified with carbon monoxide and saliva cotinine at a 6-month follow-up session. Results: In this pilot, the treatment group did not differ from the ITC at any time point. However, measures of treatment feasibility and acceptability indicated that smokers with schizophrenia were able to navigate the CM phone application and adhere to the protocol, demonstrating the potential utility of mobile interventions in this population. Conclusions: Despite lack of long-term abstinence for participants, adherence to the mobile application intervention indicates the potential for future investigation of mobile smoking cessation treatments for people with schizophrenia.

Keywords:

• Smoking cessation
• schizophrenia
• contingency management
• psychotic disorders
• cigarette smoking
• schizoaffective
• cessation

Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank Dr Scott Moore, the study physician, as well as Angela Kirby and Michelle Dennis for their contributions to this pilot study.

Disclosure statement

The authors declare no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article. The views expressed in this article are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the position or policy of Duke University, or any of the institutions with which the authors are affiliated.

Additional information

Funding

This grant was supported by the National Institute on Drug Abuse [R34DA038272] and a Senior Research Scientist Award from Veterans Affairs Clinical Sciences Research and Development [lK6BX003777].