One-Time Education Sessions to Help American Indian Smokeless Tobacco Users Quit.

American Indian (AI) smokeless tobacco use rates are the highest of all racial/ethnic groups within the United States. Despite this, no effective cessation program currently exists that acknowledges the cultural significance of tobacco among many American Indian tribal nations. Participants were smokeless tobacco users, over 18 years of age, and were recruited through community partners. We modified the All Nations Snuff Out Smokeless Tobacco group-based program to be delivered as a one-time education session intervention. This was delivered to 80 participants and follow-up data was collected by self-report at 6-months. The mean age of participants was 35 and most were male (70%). A majority (69%) grew up on a AI reservation; the mean age of first smokeless tobacco use was 16 years of age. Of program completers reached for 6-month post baseline, 46% reported 0 days of SLT use; 13.5% of participants reduced; while 36% reported continued daily use. In intention to treat analysis those lost to follow-up are considered current users, the quit rate was 12.5% and among those who were still using, 4.0% reduced their use. In this study, a one-time education session intervention was effective for those who prefer an individual based approach to quitting SLT use. Follow up strategies to increase participant retention at 6-months should be explored.

Smokeless Tobacco Cessation in an Emergency Room in Rural West Virginia.

Background: Emergency room nurses have a strong influence on the population of smokeless tobacco users. If healthcare providers address patient's tobacco use by using a brief intervention strategy (one minute or less), it increases the quit attempt rate threefold. The object of this study is to assess the effectiveness of asynchronous internet based brief tobacco intervention training with rural emergency room nurses. Methods: A 1-h asynchronous training session on smokeless tobacco use and the 2-A and 1-R (Ask, Advise, and Refer) brief tobacco intervention strategy were given to 13 emergency room nurses at a rural acute care hospital in West Virginia. Paired sample t-tests were used to compare the pre-and post-test results. Results: The 1-h training session produced significant and positive increases in all items measured: increased motivation to assist patients in quitting; increased knowledge of smokeless tobacco use, its dangers, and cessation processes; increased self-efficacy in implementing brief interventions; increased perception of tobacco cessation as important; increased perception of the effectiveness of tobacco cessation interventions; and increased acknowledgment of barriers and an awareness of how to deal with them. Conclusions: The results suggest that there is a significant potential benefit from training emergency room nurses. Brief tobacco interventions should be conducted by clinical staff during the medical history check, physical examination, or discharge phases of the emergency room visit.

Development and beta test of a smokeless tobacco cessation program for firefighters.

INTRODUCTION: The prevalence of smokeless tobacco (SLT) use among firefighters is substantially higher than the general population and similar occupational groups. Despite the significant health risks associated with SLT and its impact on occupational readiness, there are no occupationally-tailored SLT education or treatment programs for the fire service. The purpose of this study was to beta test QUIT SPIT!, a self-help SLT cessation program that is culturally tailored for the US fire service and firefighters who are interested in quitting. METHODS: After development and tailoring the QUIT SPIT! SLT cessation program for firefighters, the feasibility and acceptability of the program were evaluated in a sample of eleven SLT-using firefighters who wanted to quit. The primary outcome was a 7-day point prevalence of SLT abstinence measured at 4 and 12 weeks post-enrollment follow-up assessments. RESULTS: Four firefighters reported having quit SLT (7-days point prevalence) at follow-up at 12 weeks. Those who did not achieve SLT abstinence reported reductions in frequency and quantity in SLT use and demonstrated a decrease in nicotine dependence. Firefighters also reported being satisfied with the QUIT SPIT! cessation program. CONCLUSIONS: The results provide strong support for the feasibility and acceptability of the QUIT SPIT! in SLT-using firefighters interested in quitting. The findings provide critical information about the next steps for further development and evaluation of the QUIT SPIT! program.

Dependence on smokeless tobacco and willingness to quit among patients of a tertiary care hospital of Bhavnagar, Western India.

BACKGROUND: There is a paucity of data on smokeless tobacco (SLT) use in Bhavnagar city of western India. This research attempts to find out the dependence and willingness to quit SLT use. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This was a hospital-based cross-sectional study conducted in a tertiary care government hospital on a calculated sample size of 258 SLT users in the year 2017. The patients were recruited from ear-nose-throat (ENT) and dental outpatient department (OPD). The tobacco dependence was assessed using "Fagerstrom Test for Nicotine Dependence-SLT" and willingness to quit was assessed on a Likert scale of 1-10. RESULTS: Among the 258 SLT users, 20% were highly dependent on SLT and 61% had low willingness to quit tobacco. "Mawa" was the most common (60%) chewed form of tobacco. Illiterate patients were three times more likely and patients whose occupation required traveling were 2.4 times more likely to develop high dependence for SLT than their counterparts. Patients living in the joint family were 2.7 times more likely to develop high dependence than patients living in a nuclear family. CONCLUSION: There is a need for the introduction of tobacco cessation interventions in ENT and dental OPD of tertiary care hospitals of western India.