Review of strategies to investigate low sample return rates in remote tobacco trials: A call to action for more user-centered design research.

Remote collection of biomarkers of tobacco use in clinical trials poses significant challenges. A recent meta-analysis and scoping review of the smoking cessation literature indicated that sample return rates are low and that new methods are needed to investigate the underlying causes of these low rates. In this paper we conducted a narrative review and heuristic analysis of the different human factors approaches reported to evaluate and/or improve sample return rates among 31 smoking cessation studies recently identified in the literature.

Stagnant daily smoking prevalence between 2008 and 2019 among Black and Hispanic adults with serious psychological distress.

Background: Racial/ethnic minority status and mental illness independently drive inequity in cigarette smoking and related morbidity. Racial/ethnic minority groups suffer a disproportionate burden of tobacco-related diseases. People with serious mental illness (SMI) smoke at up to 7 times the rate of the general population.

The Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Stress, Isolation, Smoking Behaviors, and Motivation to Quit in People with HIV Who Smoke.

People with HIV (PWH) smoke at higher rates compared with the general population and have lower cessation rates. The primary aim of this study was to examine the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on smoking in PWH. A survey was administered to participants in two smoking cessation trials in the United States.

An examination of neurocognition and theory of mind as predictors of engagement with a tailored digital therapeutic in persons with serious mental illness.

There is an increasing interest in the development and implementation of digital therapeutics (apps) in individuals with serious mental illness (SMI). However, there is limited understanding of the role of neurocognition and social cognition on engagement with apps. The present study is a secondary analysis of a pilot randomized controlled trial ( = 62) comparing a tailored digital intervention to treat tobacco use disorder in individuals with SMI to a standard of care digital intervention for the general population.

Engagement with a digital therapeutic for smoking cessation designed for persons with psychiatric illness fully mediates smoking outcomes in a pilot randomized controlled trial.

Understanding the mechanisms of change of digital therapeutics is a critical step to improve digital health outcomes and optimize their development. Access to and engagement with digital content is arguably a core mechanism of change of these interventions. However, the mediational role of app engagement has been largely unexamined.

Usability and Acceptability of Two Smartphone Apps for Smoking Cessation Among Young Adults With Serious Mental Illness: Mixed Methods Study.

Background: Young adults with serious mental illness (SMI) have higher smoking rates and lower cessation rates than young adults without SMI. Scalable interventions such as smartphone apps with evidence-based content (eg, the National Cancer Institute's [NCI's] QuitGuide and quitSTART) could increase access to potentially appealing and effective treatment for this group but have yet to be tested in this population.

Objective: The goal of this user-centered design study is to determine the user experience (including usability and acceptability) of 2 widely available apps developed by the NCI-QuitGuide and quitSTART-among young adult tobacco users with SMI.

Review of Popularity and Quality Standards of Opioid-Related Smartphone Apps.

Purpose Of Review: Opioid misuse, addiction, and related harm is a global crisis that affects public health and social and economic welfare. Many of the strategies being used to combat the opioid crisis could benefit from improved access and dissemination, such as that afforded by smartphone apps. The goal of this study was to characterize the purpose, audience, quality and popularity of opioid-related smartphone apps.

The United States National Cancer Institute's Coordinated Research Effort on Tobacco Use as a Major Cause of Morbidity and Mortality among People with HIV.

Unlabelled: The use of antiretroviral therapy for people with HIV (PWH) has improved life expectancy. However, PWH now lose more life-years to tobacco use than to HIV infection. Unfortunately, PWH smoke at higher rates and have more difficulty maintaining abstinence than the general population, compounding their risk for chronic disease.

Theoretical Grounds of Pain Tracker Self Manager: An Acceptance and Commitment Therapy Digital Intervention for Patients with Chronic Pain.

Objective: To report the theoretical basis and design of a novel digital Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) intervention for people with chronic pain, the Pain Tracker Self Manager (PTSM), which had promising efficacy in a recent pilot trial.

Methods: Content development by a multidisciplinary panel of experts in psychiatry, clinical psychology, nursing and social work, with feedback from a group of patients with chronic pain and their providers. Materials included paper-based sketching of a story character, visual metaphors, and a series of stories designed to deliver the theory-based components of our behavioral intervention.

Mobile Applications for the Treatment of Tobacco Use and Dependence.

Purpose Of Review: Smoking remains a leading preventable cause of premature death in the world; thus, developing effective and scalable smoking cessation interventions is crucial. This review uses the Obesity-Related Behavioral Intervention Trials (ORBIT) model for early phase development of behavioral interventions to conceptually organize the state of research of mobile applications (apps) for smoking cessation, briefly highlight their technical and theory-based components, and describe available data on efficacy and effectiveness.

Recent Findings: Our review suggests that there is a need for more programmatic efforts in the development of mobile applications for smoking cessation, though it is promising that more studies are reporting early phase research such as user-centered design.

Pilot Randomized Controlled Trial of a Novel Smoking Cessation App Designed for Individuals With Co-Occurring Tobacco Use Disorder and Serious Mental Illness.

Introduction: High rates of tobacco use among people with serious mental illness (SMI), along with their unique needs, suggest the importance of developing tailored smoking cessation interventions for this group. Previous early-phase work empirically validated the design and content of Learn to Quit, a theory-based app designed for this population.

Methods: In a pilot randomized controlled trial, we compared the feasibility, acceptability, and preliminary efficacy of Learn to Quit versus QuitGuide, an app designed for the general population.

Formative, multimethod case studies of learn to quit, an acceptance and commitment therapy smoking cessation app designed for people with serious mental illness.

Despite public health efforts, individuals with serious mental illness (SMI) still have very high rates of tobacco smoking. Innovative approaches to reach this population are needed. These series of case studies aimed to descriptively evaluate the usability, user experience (UX), and user engagement (UE) of Learn to Quit (LTQ), an acceptance and commitment therapy smoking cessation app designed for people with SMI, and to compare it with an app designed for the general population, NCI (National Cancer Institute) QuitGuide (QG).

Is shame a proximal trigger for drinking? A daily process study with a community sample.

Between-subjects studies show that people with higher levels of shame tend to experience more negative drinking-related consequences than people with lower levels of shame. However, within-subjects studies of the association between daily fluctuations in shame and subsequent drinking have yielded mixed findings. This study aimed to resolve these inconsistencies by examining the association between daily fluctuations in shame, between-subjects differences in shame, and subsequent evening alcohol consumption in a sample of 70 community-dwelling drinkers.

A Controlled Pilot Trial of PainTracker Self-Manager, a Web-Based Platform Combined With Patient Coaching, to Support Patients' Self-Management of Chronic Pain.

Unlabelled: The objective of this study was to develop and pilot test a chronic pain empowerment and self-management platform, derived from acceptance and commitment therapy, in a pain specialty setting. A controlled, sequential, nonrandomized study design was used to accommodate intervention development and to test the efficacy of the PainTracker Self-Manager (PTSM) intervention (Web-based educational modules and outcome tracking combined with tailored patient coaching sessions and provider guidance). Generalized estimating equations evaluated changes over time (baseline, 3 months, 6 months) in pain self-efficacy (primary outcome), chronic pain acceptance (activity engagement and pain willingness), perceived efficacy in patient-provider interactions, pain intensity and interference, and overall satisfaction with pain treatment (secondary outcomes) between intervention (n = 48) and usual care control groups (n = 51).

The Impact of Mindfulness and Perspective-Taking on Implicit Associations Toward the Elderly: a Relational Frame Theory Account.

Perspective-taking interventions have been shown to improve attitudes toward social outgroups. In contrast, similar interventions have produced opposite effects (i.e.

User-Centered Design of Learn to Quit, a Smoking Cessation Smartphone App for People With Serious Mental Illness.

Background: Smoking rates in the United States have been reduced in the past decades to 15% of the general population. However, up to 88% of people with psychiatric symptoms still smoke, leading to high rates of disease and mortality. Therefore, there is a great need to develop smoking cessation interventions that have adequate levels of usability and can reach this population.

Lessons from Practice: Designing Tools to Facilitate Individualized Support for Quitting Smoking.

Many health care providers, with a variety of trainings, counsel clients on quitting smoking on a day-to-day basis. In their clinical practice, they draw from and adapt guidelines and research-based strategies to fit individual client situations and challenges. Designers of technologies to support quitting smoking can learn from these real world practices to create tools that better adapt to individual differences.

Design and Real-World Evaluation of Eyes-Free Yoga: An Exergame for Blind and Low-Vision Exercise.

People who are blind or low vision may have a harder time participating in exercise due to inaccessibility or lack of encouragement. To address this, we developed Eyes-Free Yoga using the Microsoft Kinect that acts as a yoga instructor and has personalized auditory feedback based on skeletal tracking. We conducted two different studies on two different versions of Eyes-Free Yoga: (1) a controlled study with 16 people who are blind or low vision to evaluate the feasibility of a proof-of-concept and (2) an 8-week in-home deployment study with 4 people who are blind or low vision, with a fully functioning exergame containing four full workouts and motivational techniques.

What Do Smokers Want in A Smartphone-Based Cessation Application?

Background: Fueled by rapid technological advances over the past decade, there is growing interest in the use of smartphones to aid in smoking cessation. Hundreds of applications have been developed for this purpose, but little is known about how these applications are accessed and used by smokers or what features smokers believe would be most useful.

Purpose: The present study sought to understand the prevalence of smartphone ownership and patterns of use among smokers as well as the perceived utility of various smartphone application features for smoking cessation that are currently in development or already available.

Application of N-of-1 Experiments to Test the Efficacy of Inactivity Alert Features in Fitness Trackers to Increase Breaks from Sitting in Older Adults.

Background: Frequent breaks from sitting could improve health. Many commercially available fitness trackers deliver vibration alerts that could be used to cue sitting breaks. As a potentially pragmatic approach to promote frequent breaks from sitting, we tested the efficacy of inactivity alerts among obese older adults, a highly sedentary population.

TummyTrials: A Feasibility Study of Using Self-Experimentation to Detect Individualized Food Triggers.

Diagnostic self-tracking, the recording of personal information to diagnose or manage a health condition, is a common practice, especially for people with chronic conditions. Unfortunately, many who attempt diagnostic self-tracking have trouble accomplishing their goals. People often lack knowledge and skills needed to design and conduct scientifically rigorous experiments, and current tools provide little support.