This application is a revision of a competing renewal of a collaborative smoking cessation intervention program between the University of Tennessee, the University of Minnesota, and the United States Air Force. Cigarette smoking is the number one preventable cause of morbidity and mortality in this nation. Active duty military personnel are at high risk for cigarette smoking, but represent an often neglected and underserved group. Smoking rates among active duty personnel range from approximately 26% for the U.S. Air Force to nearly 40% for Marines. Moreover, since the 9/11 tragedy and subsequent military incursions into Afghanistan and Iraq, the prevalence of smoking in the military has increased, while smoking in the civilian population has continued to decline. Of further concern is that this increase is most prevalent in young military personnel, ages 18-25. Despite strong efforts by the Department of Defense (DoD) to reduce tobacco use, rates of smoking in the military remain high. There are unique challenges in the military, including high mobility of troops, remote locations, and limited access to healthcare services. Many intervention programs that show strong efficacy in civilian populations often show limited or no efficacy in military populations (see Significance). As such, validating new and promising programs in military populations is important. A promising and widely disseminated approach to the treatment of tobacco dependence on a population-wide basis is the use of Tobacco Quit Lines (QL). Given that QL interventions can address the issues of mobility and remote access present in the military (particularly during periods of what the armed services call """"""""high operations tempo"""""""" [i.e. war-like conditions]), validating the efficacy of QLs in military populations is a high priority. Thus, the goals of the current project are as follows: To determine the long-term (one-year) efficacy of the intervention conditions in participants (n=2158) randomly assigned to a Proactive versus Reactive QL. Our exploratory aims include determining the representativeness of our sample relative to the population of Air Force personnel and to determine if measures of social cognitive theory relate to program adherence and outcome.

Public Health Relevance

Cigarette smoking remains high in the military and methods for reducing tobacco use is a high priority. Our study will test whether a tobacco quit line is effective in reducing long term smoking rates. If successful, the intervention can be implemented with troops stationed anywhere in the world and be translated not only to the U.S. Air Force, but all active duty and reserve units in the U.S. military.

Agency
National Institute of Health (NIH)
Institute
National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI)
Type
Research Demonstration and Dissemination Projects (R18)
Project #
5R18HL053478-11
Application #
8289463
Study Section
Special Emphasis Panel (ZHL1-CSR-C (M1))
Program Officer
Stoney, Catherine
Project Start
1995-02-01
Project End
2014-05-31
Budget Start
2012-06-01
Budget End
2014-05-31
Support Year
11
Fiscal Year
2012
Total Cost
$737,487
Indirect Cost
$325,125
Name
University of Tennessee Health Science Center
Department
Public Health & Prev Medicine
Type
Schools of Medicine
DUNS #
941884009
City
Memphis
State
TN
Country
United States
Zip Code
38163
Talcott, G Wayne; Ebbert, Jon O; Klesges, Robert C et al. (2015) Tobacco Research in the Military: Reflections on 20 Years of Research in the United States Air Force. Mil Med 180:848-50
Klesges, Robert C; Ebbert, Jon O; Talcott, G Wayne et al. (2015) Efficacy of a Tobacco Quitline in Active Duty Military and TRICARE Beneficiaries: A Randomized Trial. Mil Med 180:917-25
Richey, Phyllis A; Klesges, Robert C; Talcott, Gerald W et al. (2012) Efficacy of a smoking quit line in the military: baseline design and analysis. Contemp Clin Trials 33:959-68
Klesges, Robert C; Ebbert, Jon O; Morgan, Glen D et al. (2011) Impact of differing definitions of dual tobacco use: implications for studying dual use and a call for operational definitions. Nicotine Tob Res 13:523-31
Asfar, Taghrid; Ebbert, Jon O; Klesges, Robert C et al. (2011) Do smoking reduction interventions promote cessation in smokers not ready to quit? Addict Behav 36:764-8
DeBon, Margaret; Vander Weg, Mark W; Sherrill-Mittleman, Deborah et al. (2011) Drinking and driving and riding with an alcohol impaired driver among United States Air Force recruits. Traffic Inj Prev 12:128-35
Klesges, Robert C; Sherrill-Mittleman, Deborah; Ebbert, Jon O et al. (2010) Tobacco use harm reduction, elimination, and escalation in a large military cohort. Am J Public Health 100:2487-92
Cooper, Theodore V; Taylor, Thom; Murray, Ashley et al. (2010) Differences between intermittent and light daily smokers in a population of U.S. military recruits. Nicotine Tob Res 12:465-73
Klesges, Robert C; Sherrill-Mittleman, Deborah A; Debon, Margaret et al. (2009) Do we believe the tobacco industry lied to us? Association with smoking behavior in a military population. Health Educ Res 24:909-21
Sherrill-Mittleman, Deborah; Klesges, Robert C; Massey, Virginia et al. (2009) Relationship between smoking status and body weight in a military population of young adults. Addict Behav 34:400-2

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