Smoking Cessation With the Ottawa Model and SmartCard in Out-patient Respirology Clinic Setting

Overview

Cigarette smoking is the most harmful and quitting smoking is very difficult. Despite quitting, it is very difficult to stay quit for long term. In Ottawa the investigators are very lucky to have designed and developed the Ottawa Model for Smoking Cessation ("Ottawa Model"). This project is an end result of pain staking research. The Ottawa Model has been implemented very successfully to the hospitalized patients and has shown very promising results of higher quitting rates. Our objective is to modify the Ottawa Model to suit the needs of patients attending out-patient respirology clinics. The investigators aim to apply the modified Ottawa Model along with the SmartCard to the adult smokers who attend the investigators out-patient Respirology clinic at the Ottawa Hospital. The investigators aim to train a nurse in clinical aspects and implementation of the protocols related to the Ottawa Model. The trained nurse will contact the smokers attending the clinic. Those subjects willing to participate in this study will be divided in to two groups. One group of subjects will get counseling and SmartCard on the day of the clinic and follow-up phone calls. The SmartCard is worth $110 toward the purchase of quit smoking medications (i.e. nicotine patch/gum, varenicline, or bupropion). The subjects can re-deem the card at the investigators hospital pharmacy. Those in the control group will be followed-up as the investigators are currently doing i.e. with standard smoking cessation counseling from the clinic physician and the nurse, +/- prescription for smoking cessation aids without access to the study nurse and the extra counseling or SmartCard. The investigators aim to find increased quitting rates in the group getting on-site access to the smoking cessation aids with the Smartcard and counseling. There are no studies implementing the Ottawa Model along with the SmartCard in out-patient respirology setting so far. The Ottawa Model has proven to be very successful in the in-patient subjects. Thus, the investigators believe, the investigators can modify the Ottawa Model and make it fit the out-patient Respirology setting and increase the quitting rates.

Design: Parallel group randomized control trial Method: All adult current smokers attending respirology clinic at the Ottawa General Hospital will be approached to participate. Concealed random allocation will be done if the subject is willing and signed the written informed consent. Experimental arm will receive counseling on site enrollment in the Ottawa Model of Smoking Cessation which includes IVR automated telephone follow-up and will receive a SmartCard worth $110 towards purchase of smoking cessation aids. Usual care arm will receive current usual care in our clinic i.e. strong physician advice, +/- prescription for smoking cessation aids if requested or willing. As a priori, a third arm was added to the parent study entitled, "A PILOT IMPLEMENTATION OF BUDDHIST MINDFULNESS TRAINING COMBINED WITH THE OTTAWA MODEL FOR SMOKING CESSATION IN AN OUT-PATIENT RESPIROLOGY CLINIC SETTING". For this arm, research ethics board approval was sought and 10 participants were approached.