Smoking patterns and preferences for technology assisted smoking cessation interventions among adults with opioid and alcohol use disorders (Preprint)

Abstract

Smoking remains a major public health burden among persons with opioid and/or alcohol use disorder yet preferences for technology assisted smoking cessation strategies remain largely unknown among this population.

Assess smoking patterns and preferences for adopting technology-based interventions targeting smoking among individuals with opioid and/or alcohol use disorder.

A 49-item semi-structured survey was conducted in 2015 among urban, inpatient detoxification program patients eliciting demographic and clinical characteristics, smoking profile, technology use patterns, and preferences for adopting technology-based smoking cessation interventions. Multivariate logistic regression models further evaluated the association between participant demographic and clinical characteristics and technology preferences.

Participants were mostly male (91%), unemployed or dependent on public assistance (68%), and admitted for detoxification for alcohol (47%), heroin (31%), or both alcohol and heroin (22%). Past 30-day smoking was reported by 78% of the sample, and 60% reported at least one quit attempt in the past year. Mobile phone ownership was common (89%); with an average past-year turnover of 4 mobile phones and 3 phone numbers. Computer ownership was low (28%) and one third reported daily internet use (34%). Telephone (41%) and text message-based interventions (40%) were the most popular technology-based intervention to facilitate smoking cessation.

Despite concurrent AUD-OUD, most respondents had attempted to quit smoking in the last year and preferred telephone- and text message-based interventions to facilitate smoking cessation. However, high turnover of mobile phones, phone numbers, and limited access to computers pose barriers to dissemination of technology-based smoking cessation interventions in this vulnerable population.