Chalela Patricia, McAlister Alfred L, Despres Cliff, Muñoz Edgar, Sukumaran Pramod, Akopian David, Kaghyan Sahak, Trujillo Jesus, Ramirez Amelie G
Institute for Health Promotion Research, University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, San Antonio, TX, United States.
School of Public Health, Austin Regional Campus, University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, Austin, TX, United States.
JMIR Form Res. 2022 Jun 2;6(6):e28059. doi: 10.2196/28059.
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 the reach of cessation programs to where tobacco users are located 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 in bars, clubs, and restaurants to recruit smokers to Quitxt, our mobile smoking cessation service. Quitxt is delivered through SMS text messaging or Facebook Messenger.
We collaborated with an advertising agency to conduct in-person recruitment of young adult smokers aged 18-29 years, focusing on urban and rural Spanish-speaking Latino participants, as well as English-speaking rural White and African American participants. Street team members were recruited and trained in a 4-hour session, including a brief introduction to the public health impacts 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 at 25 bars, clubs, and other venues frequented by young smokers in urban San Antonio and nearby rural areas.
The 3923 interactions by the street teams produced 335 (8.5%) program enrollments. Most participants were English speakers with a mean age of 29.2 (SD 10.6) years and smoked a mean of 8.5 (SD 6.2) cigarettes per day. Among users who responded to questions on gender and ethnicity, 66% (70/106) were women and 56% (60/107) were Hispanic/Latino. Among users ready to make a quit attempt, 22% (17/77) reported 1 tobacco-free day and 16% (10/62) reported maintaining cessation to achieve 1 week without smoking. The response rate to later follow-up questions was 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 through direct outreach, as well as to test the use of incentives in obtaining more useful response rates.
众所周知，吸烟和饮酒是相伴出现的行为，但在酒吧和俱乐部等饮酒场所招募吸烟者参加移动戒烟服务方面，相关研究较少。调整招募策略，将戒烟项目的覆盖范围扩大到烟草使用者所在的地方，可能有助于缩小烟草控制方面的健康公平差距，因为这可以提高传统戒烟服务未能覆盖的低收入和农村地区服务不足的吸烟者的覆盖率和参与率。
这项探索性研究的目的是评估在酒吧、俱乐部和餐馆进行直接宣传，以招募吸烟者加入我们的移动戒烟服务Quitxt的可行性。Quitxt通过短信或Facebook Messenger提供服务。
我们与一家广告公司合作，对18至29岁的年轻成年吸烟者进行现场招募，重点是城市和农村地区讲西班牙语的拉丁裔参与者，以及讲英语的农村白人和非裔美国参与者。招募了街头团队成员，并对其进行了4小时的培训，包括简要介绍吸烟对公共健康的影响以及项目目标。街头团队在圣安东尼奥市及其附近农村地区的25家酒吧、俱乐部和其他年轻吸烟者常去的场所，与吸烟区及其附近的吸烟者进行了直接的面对面接触。
街头团队的3923次互动带来了335人（8.5%）加入项目。大多数参与者是讲英语的人，平均年龄为29.2岁（标准差10.6），平均每天吸烟8.5支（标准差6.2）。在回答了性别和种族问题的用户中，66%（70/106）是女性，56%（60/107）是西班牙裔/拉丁裔。在准备尝试戒烟的用户中，22%（17/77）报告有1天未吸烟，16%（10/62）报告保持戒烟状态达1周未吸烟。后续问题的回复率较低。
在酒吧和俱乐部进行直接宣传是将年轻成年吸烟者与移动戒烟服务联系起来的一种有用方法。然而，需要进一步研究，以更多地了解移动服务如何影响通过直接宣传招募的人群的长期戒烟情况，以及测试使用激励措施以获得更有效的回复率。
