1. Background
Objective
Results: Demographic & Clinical Characteristics
Despite significant declines in smoking nationally, smoking
prevalence among inpatient detoxification patients remains high
Text messaging (TM) offers a low-cost and effective strategy to
reduce rates of smoking, yet no studies have assessed their
feasibility and clinical impact among vulnerable inpatient
detoxification patient populations
Text message-based smoking cessation for inpatient detoxification program patients with illicit
substance or alcohol use disorders
Grazioli F1, Lee JD2, Perna M2, Desai A2, Greco P2, Thomas A2, Sherman S2, Tofighi B2
1NYU Silver School of Social Work 2New York University, Department of Population Health
 High turnover of mobile phones and phone numbers is a potential
obstacle to long-term engagement among vulnerable populations
with illicit substance and/or alcohol use disorders
 Text message-based smoking cessation tools are an acceptable and
practical approach to facilitate cessation following discharge from
detoxification with minimal disruption to clinical workflow
 Future studies must assess for efficacy and engagement with the
intervention over time in this patient population
 Most reported primary care encounters and smoking cessation
counseling yet cessation interventions were underutilized
 Future studies must explore the feasibility and clinical impact of
mobile phone-based smoking cessation strategies for patients with
substance use disorders in primary care
References
Discussion
 Respondents were mostly African-American (42%), male (97%),
unemployed or reliant on public assistance (68%), insured by
Medicaid (65%), and lacked stable housing (52%)
 Most reported alcohol use (63%), followed by heroin use (51%), and
22% reported both alcohol and heroin use
 63% visited a primary care provider in the last 12 months; 78% of
whom were advised to quit smoking by their PCP
 The acceptability and feasibility of the National Cancer Institute
SmokeFreeTXT intervention was assessed among inpatient opioid
or alcohol dependent detoxification participants (n=85)
 The 36-item baseline survey was comprised of closed-ended
(Likert scale, binary yes/no, multiple choice) and open-ended
items.
 Interviews took approximately 30 minutes and survey domains
included: 1) demographic characteristics; 2) technology use
patterns; 3) adoption preferences for text message-based health
interventions
 Acceptability: assess rate of enrollment among eligible
participants; adherence with the TM intervention
 Feasibility: assess rates of mobile phone ownership; integration
in an inpatient detoxification program
Methodology
Buller, D. B., et al. (2014). Randomized trial of a smartphone mobile application
compared to text messaging to support smoking cessation. Telmed Journal of E
Health, 20(3), 206-214.
Results: Technology use patterns (n=85)
Results: Smoking patterns
 Most reported smoking every day (69%) and only 15% were non-
smokers at the time of the survey
 The average number of cigarettes smoked per day was 16 and the
average age of first use was 15
 Nearly 30% wanted to quit smoking during their admission, 34% were
contemplating cessation, and 31% were not yet interested
 47% had made at least one quit attempt in the last 12 months
24
12
7
5
1 0 0
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
Smoking Cessation Interventions Received (past 12 months)
Acknowledgments
Mobile phones owned (past 12 mo.) 4 (per respondent)
Mobile phone numbers (past 12 mo.) 3 (per respondent)
Smartphone owners 49 (57%)
Subscribers to unlimited text plans 63 (74%)
Results (cont.): Technology use patterns (n=85)
The Substance Abuse Research Education and Training (SARET) program is
funded by a grant from the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA
5R25DA022461).​
*Nicotine replacement therapy (patch/gum). Contact: F Grazioli BA, email: fg215@nyu.edu