SBIR-STTR Award

Recent studies show that smoking cessation success rates improve when a psychological support program is used with a nicotine patch. The applicant has developed a technology to economically produce personalized audiotapes. In Phase I, this technology will be used to test the efficacy of a smoking cessation program combining the nicotine patch with personalized audiotapes.A multiple baseline design and analyses of smoking rates during intervention phases compared to baseline will be used. The principal Phase I outcome is to demonstrate the efficacy of using personalized audiotapes to improve participants' ability to:. move from one stage of smoking cessation to the next;. predict and self-control personal smoking challenges;. initiate active coping strategies.Feasibility criteria include:. length of training and monitoring time from health professionals;. sustained reduction in daily smoking;. cost of personalized program delivery system.Key project tasks include defining what data are most relevant and the best ways to collect and use personal information for improved smoking cessation self-help programs. A successful Phase I test will answer the following questions prior to Phase II:. Does a personalized audiotape-based program demonstrably help reduce smoking rates?. Can the core technology economically produce effective personalized audiotapes?Proposed commercial application:The immediate commercial market consists of smokers who have already made a decision to cease smoking by seeking a prescription to purchase one of the nicotine patch products currently on the market. Primary market channels include the patch manufacturers, as well as HMOs, health care providers, and the health insurance industry. Additional applications for the technology include corporate wellness and individualized training programs. A respected national provider of commercial patient education materials will serve as a project consultant to assist with successful commercialization planning.National Institute of Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI)

This Phase II project will clinically test the Personal Action to Stop Smoking (PASS) program, an improved version of a personalized audiotape program developed in Phase I. The PASS program uses personalized audiotapes based on Prochaska and DiClemente's Transtheoretical Model of health behavior change ("Stage of Change"). The PASS program uses Brimson Laboratories' proprietary audio recording technology, and is designed to help adult smokers achieve abstinence rates equivalent to clinician-assisted programs, and exceed those achieved by generic self-help programs. Specific aims include: enhance the Phase I prototype with: audio script revisions; tailored print handouts; program compliance incentives; and phone-based data collection procedures that are simple to use, economical, and allow rapid response to smokers' changing needs; conduct clinical trials with 12 month follow-up, comparing the PASS Program to scientifically validated self-help intervention: American Lung Association's Freedom From Smoking (1993); gain experience with three key markets: 1) outpatient health care networks (264 subjects); 2) corporate organizational settings (264 subjects); and 3) with an urban, economically disadvantaged and poorly educated sample of smokers (120 subjects); evaluate the effectiveness of providing additional aggressive intervention using personalized print feedback; and achieve point-prevalence abstinence rates that improve over the 12-month study period