Pilot Randomized Controlled Trial of a Digital Storytelling Intervention for Smoking Cessation in Women Living With HIV

• Published in: Annals of behavioral medicine Vol. 54; no. 6; pp. 447 - 454
• Main Authors: Kim, Sun S, Lee, Sang A, Mejia, Jeannette, Cooley, Mary E, Demarco, Rosanna F
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England Oxford University Press 25.05.2020
• Subjects: Adult; Brief Report; Cigarette Smoking - epidemiology; Cigarette Smoking - therapy; Comorbidity; Female; Follow-Up Studies; HIV Infections - epidemiology; Humans; Middle Aged; Motion Pictures; Pilot Projects; Psychotherapy - methods; Smoking Cessation - methods; Tobacco Use Disorder - epidemiology; Tobacco Use Disorder - therapy; Treatment Outcome; Women; HIV; Digital storytelling intervention • Smoking cessation
• ISSN: 0883-6612; 1532-4796
• DOI: 10.1093/abm/kaz062

People living with HIV in the USA smoke at a rate nearly three times that of the general population, and Black women are disproportionately affected by HIV infection. This study was conducted to test the preliminary efficacy of a digital storytelling intervention for smoking cessation in U.S. women living with HIV. Participants in the treatment arm viewed a film in which women living with HIV talk about quitting smoking, and those in the control arm viewed an attention-control film in which women talk about living with HIV infection. Participants in both arms received eight weekly video-call counseling sessions focused on smoking cessation and nicotine patches or gum during the same period. Participants were followed on a monthly basis from quit day for 3 months. Of the 53 participants randomized, four withdrew before receiving any intervention, one dropped out during the intervention, and 48 (90.6%) completed the study. No difference was found in the baseline characteristics between the two arms with the exception that the treatment arm had higher nicotine dependence scores [t(1.51) = 2.30, p = .03] than the control arm. Seven day point-prevalence abstinence rates at 3 month follow-up were not found to differ between the two arms. However, the odds of achieving 3 month prolonged abstinence were four times greater (odds ratio = 4.23, 95% confidence interval = 1.10, 16.23) in the treatment arm than the control arm when the analysis was performed with those (n = 49, 92.5%) who received any part of the allotted intervention. A digital storytelling intervention seems to be a valuable strategy to enhance the effect of conventional tobacco dependence treatment for women living with HIV. However, the underlying mechanism of the effect of digital storytelling necessitates further investigations in a large RCT.Clinical Trials Registration No. NCT03289676.