Immediate, remote smoking cessation intervention in participants undergoing a targeted lung health check: QuLIT2 a randomised controlled trial

Background Lung cancer screening programs provide an opportunity to support smokers to quit, but the most appropriate model for delivery remains to be determined. Immediate face to face smoking cessation support for people undergoing screening can increase quit rates, but it is not known whether remote delivery of immediate smoking cessation counselling and pharmacotherapy in this context is also effective. Materials and Methods In a single-blind randomised controlled trial, smokers aged 55-75 years attending a Targeted Lung Health Check (TLHC) were allocated by day of attendance to receive either immediate telephone smoking cessation support (TSI) (starting immediately and lasting for 6 weeks) with appropriate pharmacotherapy, or usual care (very brief advice to quit and signposting to smoking cessation services) (UC). The primary outcome was self-reported 7-day point prevalence smoking abstinence at three months. Differences between groups were assessed using logistic regression. Results 315 current smokers taking part in the screening programme, mean (SD) age 63(5.4) years, 48% female, were randomised to telephone smoking cessation (n=152) or usual care (n=163). The two groups were well-matched at baseline. Self-reported quit rates were higher in the intervention arm, 21.1% vs 8.9% (odds ratio [OR]: 2.83, 95% CI 1.44-5.61, p=0.002). Controlling for participant demographics, baseline smoking characteristics or the discovery of abnormalities on low dose CT scanning did not modify the effect of the intervention. Conclusion Immediate provision of an intensive telephone-based smoking cessation intervention, delivered within a targeted lung screening context, is associated with increased smoking abstinence at three months. Trial registration This study is registered online: [ISRCTN12455871][1]. Take home message Providing immediate, telephone smoking cessation support with pharmacotherapy to smokers enrolled in a TLHC program increases quit rates in this population by almost a third. ### Competing Interest Statement Conflicts of interest; NSH is Chair of Action on Smoking and Health and Medical Director of Asthma+Lung UK, AL is a trustee of Action on Smoking and Health. Other authors have no conflict of interest to declare. ### Clinical Trial ISRCTN12455871 ### Funding Statement This work was supported by RM Partners, West London Cancer Alliance, hosted by The Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust. The funders had no input into data analysis or the writing of this manuscript. ### Author Declarations I confirm all relevant ethical guidelines have been followed, and any necessary IRB and/or ethics committee approvals have been obtained. Yes The details of the IRB/oversight body that provided approval or exemption for the research described are given below: Ethics committee South Central Oxford C Research Ethics Committee of the Health Research Authority gave ethical approval for this work I confirm that all necessary patient/participant consent has been obtained and the appropriate institutional forms have been archived, and that any patient/participant/sample identifiers included were not known to anyone (e.g., hospital staff, patients or participants themselves) outside the research group so cannot be used to identify individuals. Yes I understand that all clinical trials and any other prospective interventional studies must be registered with an ICMJE-approved registry, such as ClinicalTrials.gov. I confirm that any such study reported in the manuscript has been registered and the trial registration ID is provided (note: if posting a prospective study registered retrospectively, please provide a statement in the trial ID field explaining why the study was not registered in advance). Yes I have followed all appropriate research reporting guidelines and uploaded the relevant EQUATOR Network research reporting checklist(s) and other pertinent material as supplementary files, if applicable. Yes All data produced in the present study are available upon reasonable request to the authors [1]: /external-ref?link_type=ISRCTN&access_num=ISRCTN12455871