Contingency Management for Smoking Cessation in Pregnant Minority Women

Overview

The long-term goal of this research is to reduce tobacco-related disparities in maternal and infant health outcomes by improving smoking cessation and relapse prevention interventions for minority pregnant and postpartum women, who have been significantly underrepresented in smoking cessation research. This study will examine the feasibility and efficacy of a prize-based contingency management approach for increasing smoking cessation and preventing relapse among socioeconomically disadvantaged minority pregnant smokers. First, the intervention will be pretested with 10 pregnant low-income minority smokers and then refined based on acceptability survey and focus group data. Next, a pilot study will be conducted. 60 highly disadvantaged minority women, recruited from the outpatient obstetric clinics at a large teaching hospital, who report daily smoking and who meet other eligibility criteria will be enrolled and randomized to one of two study conditions: 1) Standard Psychoeducational Intervention (6-week, individually-administered, pregnancy-specific Quit Smoking Now curriculum, as currently implemented in the clinic; QSN Only); 2) Standard Psychoeducational Intervention plus Contingency Management (provision of incentives contingent on biochemically-verified abstinence; QSN-CM). Abstinence monitoring via expired carbon monoxide and salivary cotinine levels will occur in both groups beginning on the first quit day and continuing through 3-months postpartum. Only participants in the QSN-CM group will be reinforced for biochemically-verified abstinence with chances to win prizes ranging in value from approximately $1 to $100 ('fishbowl' or 'prize bowl' method). Study outcomes will be assessed through follow-up research exams (delivery and 6-months postpartum) and hospital chart reviews. The primary hypothesis is that that women randomized to the QSN-CM condition will have higher rates of abstinence during pregnancy and postpartum compared to women receiving standard of care alone. Results should advance scientific knowledge regarding effective methods for promoting and maintaining smoking abstinence among pregnant disadvantaged women and provide preliminary feasibility and efficacy data needed to support a larger randomized controlled trial.