Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Randomized Controlled Trial
. 2020 May 25;54(6):447-454.
doi: 10.1093/abm/kaz062.

Pilot Randomized Controlled Trial of a Digital Storytelling Intervention for Smoking Cessation in Women Living With HIV

Sun S Kim  1 , Sang A Lee  1 , Jeannette Mejia  2 , Mary E Cooley  3 , Rosanna F Demarco  1
Affiliations
Randomized Controlled Trial

Pilot Randomized Controlled Trial of a Digital Storytelling Intervention for Smoking Cessation in Women Living With HIV

Sun S Kim et al. Ann Behav Med. .

Abstract

Background: People living with HIV in the USA smoke at a rate nearly three times that of the general population, and Black women are disproportionately affected by HIV infection.

Purpose: This study was conducted to test the preliminary efficacy of a digital storytelling intervention for smoking cessation in U.S. women living with HIV.

Methods: Participants in the treatment arm viewed a film in which women living with HIV talk about quitting smoking, and those in the control arm viewed an attention-control film in which women talk about living with HIV infection. Participants in both arms received eight weekly video-call counseling sessions focused on smoking cessation and nicotine patches or gum during the same period. Participants were followed on a monthly basis from quit day for 3 months.

Results: Of the 53 participants randomized, four withdrew before receiving any intervention, one dropped out during the intervention, and 48 (90.6%) completed the study. No difference was found in the baseline characteristics between the two arms with the exception that the treatment arm had higher nicotine dependence scores [t(1.51) = 2.30, p = .03] than the control arm. Seven day point-prevalence abstinence rates at 3 month follow-up were not found to differ between the two arms. However, the odds of achieving 3 month prolonged abstinence were four times greater (odds ratio = 4.23, 95% confidence interval = 1.10, 16.23) in the treatment arm than the control arm when the analysis was performed with those (n = 49, 92.5%) who received any part of the allotted intervention.

Conclusions: A digital storytelling intervention seems to be a valuable strategy to enhance the effect of conventional tobacco dependence treatment for women living with HIV. However, the underlying mechanism of the effect of digital storytelling necessitates further investigations in a large RCT.Clinical Trials Registration No. NCT03289676.

Keywords: Digital storytelling intervention • Smoking cessation; HIV; Women.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Fig. 1.
Fig. 1.
CONSORT diagram showing a flow of participants in the study.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Mdodo R, Frazier EL, Dube SR, et al. Cigarette smoking prevalence among adults with HIV compared with the general adult population in the United States: Cross-sectional surveys. Ann Intern Med. 2015;162:335–344. - PubMed
    1. Pacek LR, Harrell PT, Martins SS. Cigarette smoking and drug use among a nationally representative sample of HIV-positive individuals. Am J Addict. 2014;23:582–590. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Pool ERM, Dogar O, Lindsay RP, Weatherburn P, Siddiqi K. Interventions for tobacco use cessation in people living with HIV and AIDS. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2016;( 6):CD011120. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Weinberger AH, Smith PH, Funk AP, Rabin S, Shuter J. Sex differences in tobacco use among persons living with HIV/AIDS: A systematic review and meta-analysis. J Acquir Immune Defic Syndr. 2017;74:439–453. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Ledgerwood DM, Yskes R. Smoking cessation for people living with HIV/AIDS: A literature review and synthesis. Nicotine Tob Res. 2016;18:2177–2184. - PMC - PubMed

Publication types

Associated data