Rationale and protocol for a cluster randomized pragmatic clinical trial testing behavioral economic implementation strategies to improve tobacco treatment rates for cancer patients who smoke.

2021

72

2021 Jul 15

1748-5908

<p><strong>BACKGROUND: </strong>Routine evidence-based tobacco use treatment minimizes cancer-specific and all-cause mortality, reduces treatment-related toxicity, and improves quality of life among patients receiving cancer care. Few cancer centers employ mechanisms to systematically refer patients to evidence-based tobacco cessation services. Implementation strategies informed by behavioral economics can increase tobacco use treatment engagement within oncology care.</p>

<p><strong>METHODS: </strong>A four-arm cluster-randomized pragmatic trial will be conducted across nine clinical sites within the Implementation Science Center in Cancer Control Implementation Lab to compare the effect of behavioral economic implementation strategies delivered through embedded messages (or "nudges") promoting patient engagement with the Tobacco Use Treatment Service (TUTS). Nudges are electronic medical record (EMR)-based messages delivered to patients, clinicians, or both, designed to counteract known patient and clinician biases that reduce treatment engagement. We used rapid cycle approaches (RCA) informed by relevant stakeholder experiences to refine and optimize our implementation strategies and methods prior to trial initiation. Data will be obtained via the EMR, clinician survey, and semi-structured interviews with a subset of clinicians and patients. The primary measure of implementation is penetration, defined as the TUTS referral rate. Secondary outcome measures of implementation include patient treatment engagement (defined as the number of patients who receive FDA-approved medication or behavioral counseling), quit attempts, and abstinence rates. The semi-structured interviews, guided by the Consolidated Framework for Implementation Research, will assess contextual factors and patient and clinician experiences with the nudges.</p>

<p><strong>DISCUSSION: </strong>This study will be the first in the oncology setting to compare the effectiveness of nudges to clinicians and patients, both head-to-head and in combination, as implementation strategies to improve TUTS referral and engagement. We expect the study to (1) yield insights into the effectiveness of nudges as an implementation strategy to improve uptake of evidence-based tobacco use treatment within cancer care, and (2) advance our understanding of the multilevel contextual factors that drive response to these strategies. These results will lay the foundation for how patients with cancer who smoke are best engaged in tobacco use treatment and may lead to future research focused on scaling this approach across diverse centers.</p>

<p><strong>TRIAL REGISTRATION: </strong>Clinicaltrials.gov, NCT04737031 . Registered 3 February 2021.</p>

10.1186/s13012-021-01139-7

Implement Sci

34266468

Pediatrician Delivered Smoking Cessation Messages for Parents: A Latent Class Approach to Behavioral Phenotyping.

2020

2020 Jul 27

1876-2867

<p><strong>OBJECTIVE: </strong>Message framing can be leveraged to motivate adult smokers to quit, but its value for parents in pediatric settings is unknown. Understanding parents' preferences for smoking cessation messages may help clinicians tailor interventions to increase quitting.</p>

<p><strong>METHODS: </strong>We conducted a discrete choice experiment in which parent smokers of pediatric patients rated the relative importance of 26 messages designed to increase smoking cessation treatment. Messages varied on who the message featured (child, parent, family), whether the message was gain- or loss-framed (emphasizing benefits of engaging or costs of failing to engage in treatment), and the specific outcome included (e.g. general health, cancer, respiratory illnesses, financial impact). Participants included 180 parent smokers at 4 pediatric primary care sites. We used latent class analysis of message ratings to identify groups of parents with similar preferences. Multinomial logistic regression described child and parent characteristics associated with group membership.</p>

<p><strong>RESULTS: </strong>We identified 3 groups of parents with similar preferences for messages: Group 1 prioritized the impact of smoking on the child (n=92, 51%), Group 2 favored gain-framed messages (n=63, 35%), and Group 3 preferred messages emphasizing the financial impact of smoking (n=25, 14%). Parents in Group 2 were more likely to have limited health literacy and have a child over age 6 and with asthma, compared to Group 1.</p>

<p><strong>CONCLUSIONS: </strong>We identified 3 groups of parent smokers with different message preferences. This work may inform testing of tailored smoking cessation messages to different parent groups, a form of behavioral phenotyping supporting motivational precision medicine.</p>

10.1016/j.acap.2020.07.018

Acad Pediatr

32730914

Parent Preferences for Pediatric Clinician Messaging to Promote Smoking Cessation Treatment.

2020

2020 Jun 22

1098-4275

<p><strong>BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: </strong>Insights from behavioral economics suggests that the effectiveness of health messages depends on how a message is framed. Parent preferences for smoking cessation messaging has not been studied in pediatrics, warranting further exploration to maximize benefit. We sought to assess parents' perceptions regarding the relative importance of distinct message framings to promote their smoking cessation.</p>

<p><strong>METHODS: </strong>We conducted a cross-sectional discrete choice experiment in which parent smokers rated the relative importance of 26 messages designed to encourage them to begin cessation treatment. Messages varied on who was featured (child, parent, or family), whether the message was gain or loss framed, and what outcome was included (general health, cancer, respiratory illnesses, child becoming a smoker, or financial impact). The participants were 180 parent smokers attending primary care visits with their children at 4 diverse pediatric sites. The main outcome was the importance of smoking cessation messages based on who was featured, gain or loss framing, and the outcome emphasized.</p>

<p><strong>RESULTS: </strong>Parent smokers highly prioritized cessation messages emphasizing the impact of quitting smoking on their child versus parent or family. Messages focusing on respiratory illness, cancer, or general health outcomes consistently ranked highest, whereas messages focused on the financial benefits of quitting ranked lowest. Gain versus loss framing did not meaningfully influence rankings.</p>

<p><strong>CONCLUSIONS: </strong>Parent smokers identified smoking cessation messages that emphasized the impact on their child, with outcomes focused on respiratory health, cancer, or general health, as most important. The clinical impact of these messages should be tested in future research.</p>

10.1542/peds.2019-3901

Pediatrics

32571991

Shared decision-making in pediatrics: a national perspective.

2010

306-14

2010 Aug

1098-4275

<p><strong>OBJECTIVES: </strong>To identify patterns of shared decision-making (SDM) among a nationally representative sample of US children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) or asthma and determine if demographics, health status, or access to care are associated with SDM.</p>

<p><strong>PATIENTS AND METHODS: </strong>We performed a cross-sectional study of the 2002-2006 Medical Expenditure Panel Survey, which represents 2 million children with ADHD and 4 million children with asthma. The outcome, high SDM, was defined by using latent class models based on 7 Medical Expenditure Panel Survey items addressing aspects of SDM. We entered factors potentially associated with SDM into logistic regression models with high SDM as the outcome. Marginal standardization then described the standardized proportion of children's households with high SDM for each factor.</p>

<p><strong>RESULTS: </strong>For both ADHD and asthma, 65% of children's households had high SDM. Those who reported poor general health for their children were 13% less likely to have high SDM for ADHD (64 vs 77%) and 8% less likely for asthma (62 vs 70%) when adjusting for other factors. Results for behavioral impairment were similar. Respondent demographic characteristics were not associated with SDM. Those with difficulty contacting their clinician by telephone were 26% (ADHD: 55 vs 81%) and 29% (asthma: 48 vs 77%) less likely to have high SDM than those without difficulty.</p>

<p><strong>CONCLUSIONS: </strong>These findings indicate that households of children who report greater impairment or difficulty contacting their clinician by telephone are less likely to fully participate in SDM. Future research should examine how strategies to foster ongoing communication between families and clinicians affect SDM.</p>

10.1542/peds.2010-0526

Pediatrics

20624804