Direct Outreach in Bars and Clubs to Enroll Cigarette Smokers in Mobile Cessation Services (Preprint)

Abstract

Cigarette smoking and alcohol use are well known to be concomitant behaviors, but there is a lack of studies related to recruitment of smokers for mobile cessation services at places where alcohol is consumed, such as bars and clubs. Adapting recruitment strategies to expand cessation programs’ reach where tobacco users are may help decrease the health equity gap in tobacco control by improving reach and enrollment of underserved smokers residing in low-income and rural areas who are not reached by traditional cessation services.

The purpose of this exploratory study was to assess the feasibility of direct outreach at bars, clubs, and restaurants to recruit smokers to Quitxt, our mobile smoking cessation service. Quitxt is delivered through text messaging (SMS) or Facebook Messenger Chat.

We collaborated with an advertising agency to conduct in-person recruitment of young adult smokers aged 18-29, focusing on urban and rural Spanish-speaking Latinos, as well as English-speaking rural Caucasians and African Americans. Street Team members were recruited and trained in a four-hour session, including a brief introduction to the public health importance of cigarette smoking and the aims of the project. The Street Teams made direct, face-to-face contact with smokers in and near smoking areas in 25 bars, clubs, and other venues frequented by young smokers in urban San Antonio and nearby rural areas.

The 3,923 interactions by Street Teams produced 335 program enrollments (8.5%). Most participants were English speakers with a mean age of 29 years, 66% were women, about 56.1% were Hispanic/Latino, and smoked a mean of 8.5 cigarettes per day. Among users ready to make a quit attempt, 22.1% reported one tobacco-free day and 16.1% reported maintaining cessation to achieve one week without smoking. Response rate to later follow-up questions were low.

Direct outreach in bars and clubs is a useful method for connecting young adult cigarette smokers with mobile cessation services. However, further research is needed to learn more about how mobile services can influence long-term smoking cessation among those recruited in direct outreach, as well as to test the use of incentives in obtaining more useful response rates.