A Randomized Trial of Medi-Cal Beneficiaries Calling the California Smokers' Helpline

This study is currently recruiting participants.
Verified June 2012 by University of California, San Diego
Sponsor:
Collaborators:
Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services
University of California, San Francisco
California Diabetes Program
California Department of Public Health
California Department of Health Care Services
Information provided by (Responsible Party):
Shu-Hong Zhu, University of California, San Diego
ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier:
NCT01502306
First received: December 23, 2011
Last updated: July 2, 2012
Last verified: June 2012
  Purpose

California Smokers' Helpline will conduct a randomized trial to evaluate 3 strategies of services and/or incentives on smoking cessation rates. This project has the following specific aims:

  1. To increase tobacco cessation among Medi-Cal beneficiaries who currently smoke, and to improve the management of diabetes and other chronic disease by means of tobacco cessation.
  2. Demonstrate that tobacco cessation benefits that are well promoted and barrier free and include modest incentives, are effective in reducing smoking prevalence, lowering Medi-Cal health care costs, and improving health outcomes for diabetes management in particular.

Condition Intervention Phase
Smoking Cessation
Behavioral: Telephone counseling
Drug: Nicotine patches
Behavioral: Incentive
Phase 3

Study Type: Interventional
Study Design: Allocation: Randomized
Endpoint Classification: Efficacy Study
Intervention Model: Parallel Assignment
Masking: Open Label
Primary Purpose: Treatment

Resource links provided by NLM:


Further study details as provided by University of California, San Diego:

Primary Outcome Measures:
  • 30-day abstinence [ Time Frame: 7 months post enrollment ] [ Designated as safety issue: No ]

Secondary Outcome Measures:
  • Percentage of smokers making a 24-hour quit attempt [ Time Frame: 7 months post enrollment ] [ Designated as safety issue: No ]
  • Continuous abstinence rates for those who made quit attempts [ Time Frame: 7-months post enrollment ] [ Designated as safety issue: No ]
  • 7-day prevalence. [ Time Frame: 7-months post enrollment ] [ Designated as safety issue: No ]

Estimated Enrollment: 3800
Study Start Date: June 2012
Estimated Primary Completion Date: December 2015 (Final data collection date for primary outcome measure)
Arms Assigned Interventions
Experimental: Telephone counseling Behavioral: Telephone counseling
Telephone counseling is conducted in the appropriate language (Spanish and English) by veteran counselors at the California Smokers' Helpline. The counseling protocol is similar to that used by the Helpline in previous efficacy studies. Counseling is proactive so after the smoker calls in subsequent calls are made by the counselor, a process that reduces attrition. The counseling group will receive proactive sessions initiated by quitline staff with a total of up to 6 individualized telephone counseling sessions that extend to two months from initial screening call. Counseling includes a 30-40 minute comprehensive pre-quit session plus up to 5 shorter follow-up calls (about 10 minutes) that are scheduled according to the probability of relapse. Counselors will use a structured protocol so that there will be a record for each counseling call. Quantitative information that will be available for analysis include: timing, length, and frequency of counseling calls.
Experimental: Telephone counseling and nicotine patches Drug: Nicotine patches
Nicotine Patch: Clients will be screened for contraindications to nicotine patch use, and a doctor's approval will be necessary before patches are sent if a contraindication exists. Subjects randomized into the group 2 or 3 will receive 4 weeks of nicotine patches directly to their home. If the participant smokes 11 or more cigarettes per day they will be sent 21 mg patches. If the participant smokes 6-10 cigarettes per day they will be sent 14 mg patches. If the participant smokes 5 or less cigarettes per day they will be sent 7 mg patches.
Experimental: Telephone counseling, nicotine patches and incentive Behavioral: Incentive
Incentive: Participants randomized into Group 3 will get an added incentive to adhere to the counseling program, in the form of gift cards worth $20 for their first counseling session and $10 for each additional one (up to five sessions total, or $60). They will be given their choice of gift cards from one of 4 major business chains: Wal-Mart, Target, Vons/Safeway, or Ralph's/Kroger card).

Detailed Description:

The mission of the California Department of Health Care Services (DHCS), California's single State Medicaid Agency, is to preserve and improve the health status of all Californians by operating and financing programs delivering effective health care services to eligible individuals. Medi-Cal (California's Medicaid Program) is the largest purchaser of health care in the state, serving over 7.5 million beneficiaries. Approximately half of all Medi-Cal beneficiaries receive their health care through managed care plans, while the other half receive care on a fee-for-service basis.

DHCS programs are designed to emphasize prevention-oriented health care measures (such as quitting smoking) that improve health and well-being, and ensure effective expenditure of public resources to serve those with the greatest health care needs. This study (MIPCD) aligns with the goals and objectives of the DHCS Strategic Plan, which states, "DHCS supports and values healthy lifestyle behaviors, and aims to promote the use of preventive, health improvement, and wellness services/activities."

The primary intervention in this study will be the internationally recognized, California Smokers' Helpline (Helpline) operated by the University of California, San Diego (UCSD). Established in 1992, more than 50% of the Helpline's clients are Medi-Cal members. In this study, the Helpline will: operate a fully functioning quitline call center with trained personnel and live capabilities in English, Spanish, Mandarin, Cantonese, Korean and Vietnamese; assess eligibility for the randomized trial; obtain consent for participation in the trial; send individually tailored self-help materials to registered participants; provide one-on-one telephone counseling, including a comprehensive, pre-quit planning session and up to four relapse-prevention sessions; evaluate the services provided; maintain detailed, confidential records of each beneficiary's cessation activity and receipt of incentives and services. Callers with a valid Medi-Cal ID who have diabetes or other eligible condition(s) and provide consent for the study will be randomized into one of the three arms of the trial. The arms of the trial are detailed below:

  1. Group 1 (Policy A) - current policy: beneficiaries who call the Helpline will get free counseling and a certificate of enrollment, which is required in order for them to obtain free nicotine replacement therapy (NRT) from their pharmacy, four weeks' worth at a time. Beneficiaries can receive two courses of treatment per year.
  2. Group 2 (Policy B1) - a new policy in which beneficiaries who call the Helpline get free counseling and have free nicotine patches shipped directly to their home, with no limit on the number of quit attempts they can make in a year.
  3. Group 3 (Policy B2) - a variant of B1 in which beneficiaries will get free counseling and free nicotine patches shipped directly to their home, with no annual limit on quit attempts. Participants will also get an added incentive to adhere to the counseling program, in the form of gift cards worth $20 for their initial counseling call and $10 for each additional follow-up counseling call (up to five sessions total, or $60).
  Eligibility

Ages Eligible for Study:   18 Years and older
Genders Eligible for Study:   Both
Accepts Healthy Volunteers:   No
Criteria

Inclusion Criteria:

  • 18 years or older
  • Medi-Cal beneficiary with valid Medi-Cal beneficiary ID
  • Willing to link Helpline data with Medi-Cal utilization data
  • English or Spanish speaking
  • Valid phone number
  • Valid address
  • Gave consent to participate in study and evaluation

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Contraindication(s) to nicotine patches and no MD approval
  • Pregnant
  Contacts and Locations
Please refer to this study by its ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT01502306

Contacts
Contact: Sharon E. Cummins, Ph.D. 858-300-1046 scummins@ucsd.edu
Contact: Carrie A. Kirby, M.S. 858-300-1054 ckirby@ucsd.edu

Locations
United States, California
University of California, San Diego; California Smokers' Helpline Recruiting
San Diego, California, United States, 92111
Contact: Prudimar (Dee) Segui, M.B.A.     858-300-1018     psegui@ucsd.edu    
Contact: Christopher Anderson     858-300-1032     cmanderson@ucsd.edu    
Principal Investigator: Shu-Hong Zhu, Ph.D.            
Principal Investigator: Sharon E. Cummins, Ph.D.            
Sponsors and Collaborators
University of California, San Diego
Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services
University of California, San Francisco
California Diabetes Program
California Department of Public Health
California Department of Health Care Services
Investigators
Principal Investigator: Shu-Hong Zhu, Ph.D. University of California, San Diego
  More Information

Publications:
Responsible Party: Shu-Hong Zhu, Professor, Department of Family and Preventive Medicine, University of California, San Diego
ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT01502306     History of Changes
Other Study ID Numbers: CMS NOA # 1B1CMS330882-01-00
Study First Received: December 23, 2011
Last Updated: July 2, 2012
Health Authority: United States: Institutional Review Board
United States: Federal Government

Keywords provided by University of California, San Diego:
Tobacco cessation
Smoking cessation
Telephone
Self-help
Smoking abstinence
Tobacco use disorder
Cardiopulmonary diseases
Diabetes
Disparity
Incentives
Nicotine-replacement therapy
Medi-Cal
Medicaid
Medicaid Incentives for Prevention of Chronic Disease (MIPCD)
California Diabetes Program (CDP)
California Department of Public Health (CDPH)

Additional relevant MeSH terms:
Smoking
Habits
Nicotine
Nicotine polacrilex
Ganglionic Stimulants
Autonomic Agents
Peripheral Nervous System Agents
Physiological Effects of Drugs
Pharmacologic Actions
Nicotinic Agonists
Cholinergic Agonists
Cholinergic Agents
Neurotransmitter Agents
Molecular Mechanisms of Pharmacological Action
Central Nervous System Stimulants
Central Nervous System Agents
Therapeutic Uses

ClinicalTrials.gov processed this record on June 17, 2013