Skip to main content
Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute
Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute
  • Blog
  • Newsroom
  • Find It Fast
  • Help Center
  • Subscribe
  • Careers
  • Contact Us

PCORI

Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute

Search form

  • About Us
    Close mega-menu

    About Us

    • Our Programs
    • Governance
    • Financials and Reports
    • Procurement Opportunities
    • Our Staff
    • Our Vision & Mission
    • Contact Us

    Fact Sheets: Learn More About PCORI

    Download fact sheets about out work, the research we fund, and our programs and initiatives.

    Find It Fast

    Browse through an alphabetical list of frequently accessed and searched terms for information and resources.

    Subscribe to PCORI Email Alerts

    Sign up for weekly emails to stay current on the latest results of our funded projects, and more.

  • Research & Results
    Close mega-menu

    Research & Results

    • Explore Our Portfolio
    • Research Fundamentals
    • Research Results Highlights
    • Putting Evidence to Work
    • Peer Review
    • Evidence Synthesis
    • About Our Research

    Evidence Updates from PCORI-Funded Studies

    These updates capture highlights of findings from systematic reviews and our funded research studies.

    Journal Articles About Our Funded Research

    Browse through a collection of journal publications that provides insights into PCORI-funded work.

    Explore Our Portfolio of Funded Projects

    Find out about projects based on the health conditions they focus on, the state they are in, and if they have results.

  • Topics
    Close mega-menu

    Topics

    • Addressing Disparities
    • Arthritis
    • Asthma
    • Cancer
    • Cardiovascular Disease
    • Children's Health
    • Community Health Workers
    • COVID-19
    • Dementia and Cognitive Impairment
    • Diabetes
    • Kidney Disease
    • Medicaid
    • Men's Health
    • Mental and Behavioral Health
    • Minority Mental Health
    • Multiple Chronic Conditions
    • Multiple Sclerosis
    • Obesity
    • Older Adults' Health
    • Pain Care and Opioids
    • Rare Diseases
    • Rural Health
    • Shared Decision Making
    • Telehealth
    • Transitional Care
    • Veterans Health
    • Women's Health

    Featured Topic: Women's Health

    Learn more about the projects we support on conditions that specifically or more often affect women.

  • Engagement
    Close mega-menu

    Engagement

    • The Value of Engagement
    • Engagement in Health Research Literature Explorer
    • Influencing the Culture of Research
    • Engagement Awards
    • Engagement Resources
    • Engage with Us

    Engagement Tools and Resources for Research

    This searchable peer-to-peer repository includes resources that can inform future work in patient-centered outcomes research.

    Explore Engagement in Health Literature

    This tool enables searching for published articles about engagement in health research.

    Research Fundamentals: A New On-Demand Training

    It enables those new to health research or patient-centered research to learn more about the research process.

  • Funding Opportunities
    Close mega-menu

    Funding Opportunities

    • What & Who We Fund
    • What You Need to Know to Apply
    • Applicant Training
    • Merit Review
    • Awardee Resources
    • Help Center

    PCORI Funding Opportunities

    View and learn about the newly opened funding announcements and the upcoming PFAs in 2021.

    Tips for Submitting a Responsive LOI

    Find out what PCORI looks for in a letter of intent (LOI) along with other helpful tips.

    PCORI Awardee Resources

    These resources can help awardees in complying with the terms and conditions of their contract.

  • Meetings & Events
    Close mega-menu

    Meetings & Events

    • Upcoming
    • Past Events

    PCORI Webinar: February 2, 2pm ET

    Hear from PCORI leaders about ways to get involved in PCOR, improvements to our funding opportunities, and more. Register

    Confronting COVID-19: A Webinar Series

    Learn more about the series and access recordings and summary reports of all six sessions.

    2020 PCORI Annual Meeting

    Watch recordings of all sessions, and view titles and descriptions of the posters presented at the virtual meeting.

You are here

  • Research & Results
  • Explore Our Portfolio
  • Comparing Ways to Promote Quitting Sm...

Comparing Ways to Promote Quitting Smoking for People Referred for Lung Cancer Screenings

Sign Up for Updates to This Study  

Project Summary  

PCORI has identified the need for large studies that look at real-life questions facing diverse patients, caregivers, and clinicians. In 2014, PCORI launched the Pragmatic Clinical Studies initiative to support large-scale comparative effectiveness studies focusing on everyday care for a wide range of patients. The Pragmatic Clinical Studies initiative funded this research project and others.

COVID-19-Related Project Enhancement

The enhancement to this project addresses maintenance of preventive health services during the pandemic, specifically identifying challenges and facilitators of engaging with smoking cessation programs and lung cancer screening, which cannot be provided by telehealth. Interventions can be compared in head-to-head comparative effectiveness research to inform decision making regarding engaging patients in preventive health care. The pandemic is affecting access to lung cancer screening more than other types of services more amenable to telehealth delivery, thereby potentially increasing disparities in health because the target population has higher prevalence of smoking and lung cancer.

Enhancement Award Amount: $491,910

This research project is in progress. PCORI will post the research findings on this page within 90 days after the results are final.

What is the research about?

Quitting smoking can help people live longer, healthier lives. Medical guidelines recommend that people in certain age groups who have a history of smoking should get screened for lung cancer. Screening appointments are an opportunity for health systems to offer programs to support patients in quitting smoking.

Many programs help people quit smoking. But these programs may not work equally well for all groups of people. In this study, the research team is comparing combinations of programs to see which approaches help people who are black or Hispanic, people with low levels of education or low incomes, or people who live in rural areas quit smoking. The team is focusing on how well these combinations work when offered at the time of lung cancer screening.

Who can this research help?

The results of this study can help lung cancer screening programs choose the best ways to help patients quit smoking.   

What is the research team doing?

The research team is recruiting 3,200 current smokers who are referred for lung cancer screening at four large health systems. All patients are black or Hispanic, have low incomes, or live in a rural area.

The research team is assigning patients by chance to one of four approaches to encourage them to stop smoking:

  • Ask-Advise-Refer. In this approach, a clinician asks the patient about his or her desire to quit, advises them to quit, and refers the patient to resources such as a quitline.
  • Ask-Advise-Refer plus free prescription medicine to help patients quit and free nicotine patches, gum, and lozenges.
  • The first two ways plus paying people for successfully quitting smoking
  • All of the above ways plus an app that helps people to imagine their future and what life would be like if they didn’t smoke.

The research team is looking at how well each approach helps patients to stop smoking for six months after the date they choose to quit. The team is also comparing how the approaches work for patients of different races, incomes, and communities. The team is also looking at whether patients have successfully avoided smoking 12 and 18 months after their quit date. For the first six months, the team is collecting information from patients three times. The team is asking patients about how motivated they are to quit, how confident they feel about their ability to quit, what might keep them from quitting, and their quality of life.

Patients who have quit smoking, doctors, and community members are helping the research team plan and conduct the study.

Research methods at a glance

Design Element Description
Design Randomized controlled trial
Population Current smokers referred for low-dose computed tomography screening for lung cancer who are black or Hispanic, and/or have low socioeconomic status, or live in a rural area 
Interventions/
Comparators
  • Ask-Advise-Refer
  • Ask-Advise-Refer with free prescription medicines and free nicotine patches, gum, and lozenges
  • Ask-Advise-Refer with free prescription medicines and free nicotine patches, gum, and lozenges and financial incentives to successfully quit smoking
  • Ask-Advise-Refer with free prescription medicines and free nicotine patches, gum, and lozenges; financial incentives to successfully quit smoking; and a future thinking application
Outcomes

Primary: tobacco cessation for 6 months

Secondary: relapse rates at 12 and 18 months, self-reported motivation to quit, self-efficacy related to cessation efforts, perceived barriers to cessation, health-related quality of life 

Timeframe 6-month follow-up for primary outcome

Project Details

Principal Investigator
Scott Halpern, MD, PhD
Project Status
In progress; Not yet recruiting
Project Title
Comparing Smoking Cessation Interventions among Underserved Patients Referred for Lung Cancer Screening
Board Approval Date
November 2018
Project End Date
March 2025
Organization
University of Pennsylvania
Year Awarded
2018
State
Pennsylvania
Project Type
Research Project
Health Conditions  
Cancer
Lung Cancer
Mental/Behavioral Health
Tobacco Cessation
Intervention Strategies
Behavioral Interventions
Drug Interventions
Other Clinical Interventions
Shared Decision Making
Incentives for Behavior Change
Technology Interventions
Populations
Low Income
Older Adults
Racial/Ethnic Minorities
Rural
Women
Funding Announcement
COVID-19-Related Project Enhancement
Pragmatic Clinical Studies to Evaluate Patient-Centered Outcomes
Project Budget
$11,542,693
Study Registration Information
HSRP20193323
Page Last Updated: 
December 8, 2020

Research & Results

  • Explore Our Portfolio
  • Research Fundamentals
  • Research Results Highlights
  • Putting Evidence to Work
  • Peer Review
  • Evidence Synthesis
  • About Our Research

About Us

  • Our Programs
  • Governance
  • Financials and Reports
  • Procurement Opportunities
  • Our Staff
  • Our Vision & Mission
  • Contact Us

Research & Results

  • Explore Our Portfolio
  • Research Fundamentals
  • Research Results Highlights
  • Putting Evidence to Work
  • Peer Review
  • Evidence Synthesis
  • About Our Research

Engagement

  • The Value of Engagement
  • Engagement in Health Research Literature Explorer
  • Influencing the Culture of Research
  • Engagement Awards
  • Engagement Resources
  • Engage with Us

Funding Opportunities

  • What & Who We Fund
  • What You Need to Know to Apply
  • Applicant Training
  • Merit Review
  • Awardee Resources
  • Help Center

Meetings & Events

February 2
PCORI 2021 and Beyond: Opportunities for Funding and Involvement in Patient-Centered Research
February 9
Board of Governors Meeting: February 9, 2021
February 11
Advisory Panel on Patient Engagement Winter 2021 Meeting

PCORI

Footer contact address

Patient-Centered Outcomes
Research Institute

1828 L Street, NW, Suite 900
Washington, DC 20036
Phone: (202) 827-7700 | Fax: (202) 355-9558
[email protected]

Subscribe to Newsletter

Twitter Facebook LinkedIn Vimeo

© 2011-2021 Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute. All Rights Reserved.

Privacy Policy | Terms of Use | Trademark Usage Guidelines | Credits | Help Center