UC San Diego

Introduction

Cigarette smoking is highly prevalent among Asian American immigrant subgroups. Previously, Asian language telephone Quitline services were only available in California. In 2012, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) funded the national Asian Smokers' Quitline (ASQ) to expand Asian language Quitline services nationally. However, there are relatively few calls to the ASQ from outside California.

Methods

This pilot study assessed the feasibility of two proactive outreach interventions to connect Vietnamese-speaking participants who smoke to the ASQ. Both interventions, 1) proactive telephone outreach with a counselor trained in motivational interviewing (PRO-MI) and 2) proactive telephone outreach with interactive voice response (PRO-IVR), were adapted to be culturally and linguistically appropriate for Vietnamese-speaking participants. Participants were randomly assigned 2:1 to PRO-IVR vs. PRO-MI. Assessments were conducted at baseline and three months post-enrollment. Feasibility indicators were the recruitment rate and initiation of ASQ treatment.

Results

Using the HealthPartners EHR, a large health system in Minnesota, we identified approximately 343 potentially eligible Vietnamese participants who were mailed invitations letters and baseline surveys with telephone follow-up. We enrolled 86 eligible participants (25% recruitment rate). In the PRO-IVR group 7/58 participants were directly transferred to the ASQ (12% initiation rate) and in the PRO-MI group 8/28 participants were warm transferred to the ASQ (29% initiation rate).

Conclusions

This pilot study demonstrates the feasibility of our recruitment methods and of implementing proactive outreach interventions to promote the initiation of smoking cessation treatment with the ASQ.

Implications

This pilot study contributes novel data on the uptake of Asian Smokers' Quitline (ASQ) services among Asian-speaking people who smoke (PWS) with two proactive outreach interventions: 1) proactive telephone outreach with a counselor trained in motivational interviewing (PRO-MI) and 2) proactive telephone outreach with interactive voice response (PRO-IVR). We found that it is feasible to implement these proactive outreach interventions to promote the initiation of ASQ cessation treatment among Vietnamese-language speaking PWS. Future large trials are needed to rigorously compare PRO-MI and PRO-IVR and conduct budget impact analyses to understand the most efficient strategies for incorporation into health system settings.