While most smokers prefer to quit on their own, many smokers continue to need and be interested in smoking cessation assistance. Telephone counseling is a popular way of delivering cessation assistance. The cost of maintaining live telephone support programs is expensive. However, modern technology has produced new options that go beyond live telephone counseling. Interactive voice response (IVR) is one system that can offer a large array of telephone messages matched to the smokers' stage of change at a low cost. In this Phase I project, we propose to develop and evaluate an IVR telephone program to support use of LifeSign. The program will consist of (1) an easy to use, credit card sized LifeSign computer; (2) a Program Guide, and (3) proactive telephone support generated by IVR. During Phase I, we will develop the prototype of an IVR system to provide proactive telephone support for LifeSign. It will be evaluated in a 10-week feasibility study with N=100 subjects randomly assigned to one of two conditions: (1) LifeSign with Telephone Support or (2) LifeSign alone as the control. The primary outcome measures of interest include biochemically verified abstinence rates at 10-week follow-up and reductions from baseline in smoking rate and carbon monoxide levels. Feasibility will be evaluated on the basis of treatment and process outcomes of computer-generated compliance data and measures of user satisfaction with IVR telephone support. During Phase II, a second-generation prototype of the program will be developed and evaluated in a larger scale clinical trial.
