Implementing Facilitated Access to a Text Messaging, Smoking Cessation Intervention Among Swedish Patients Having Elective Surgery: Qualitative Study of Patients' and Health Care Professionals' Perspectives

Feasibility Testing of the Health4LIFE Weight Loss Intervention for Primary School Educators Living with Overweight/Obesity Employed at Public Schools in Low-Income Settings in Cape Town and South Africa: A Mixed Methods Study

Given the high prevalence of overweight and obesity amongst educators, this study investigated the feasibility of the 16-week Health4LIFE weight loss intervention for primary school educators living with overweight/obesity in low-income settings in Cape Town, South Africa. The research comprised two sub-studies, a pilot randomised controlled trial testing the intervention (10 intervention, n = 79 and 10 control schools, n = 58), and an investigation of the perceptions of participating educators and principals. Feasibility outcomes included reach, applicability, acceptability, implementation integrity, and a hypothesis-generating signal of effect on lifestyle factors and weight. The intervention consisted of a wellness day, weight loss manual, and text messages. Results indicated acceptable reach, with positive feedback on intervention components from principals and educators. Implementation was largely successful, though three schools dropped out due to scheduling issues. Barriers included interruption of teaching time and busy school schedules. The intervention group (n = 42) showed favourable shifts in belief patterns, stages of change, and lifestyle behaviours, with a trend towards weight loss. Control group (n = 43) changes were limited to dietary intake. The triangulation of results supported the intervention's feasibility in terms of primary and secondary outcomes. Recommendations for enhancement include adding in-person follow-up sessions and an app-based element to potentially increase impact on lifestyle indicators and weight loss.

Two novel prehabilitation apps to help patients stop smoking and risky drinking prior to hip and knee arthroplasty

PURPOSE

Daily smoking or risky drinking increases the risk of complications after surgery by ~50%. Intensive prehabilitation aimed at complete cessation reduces the complication rate but is time-consuming. The purpose of this study was to carry out preoperative pilot tests (randomized design) of the feasibility (1A) and validation (1B) of two novel prehabilitation apps, habeat® (Ha-app) or rehaviour® (Re-app).

METHODS

Patients scheduled for hip or knee arthroplasty with daily smoking, risky drinking, or both were randomised to one of the two apps. In part 1A, eight patients and their staff measured feasibility on a visual analog scale (VAS) and were interviewed about what worked well and the challenges requiring improvement. In part 1B, seven patients and their staff tested the improved apps for up to two weeks before validating the understanding, usability, coverage, and empowerment on a VAS and being interviewed.

RESULTS

In 1A, all patients and staff returned scores of ≥5 for understanding the apps and mostly suggested technical improvements. In 1B, the scores varied widely for both apps, with no consensus achieved. Two of four patients (Ha-app) and one-third of the patients (Re-app) found the apps helpful for reducing smoking, but without successful quitting. The staff experienced low app competencies among patients and high time consumption. Specifically, patients most often needed help for the Ha-app, and the staff most often for Re-app; however, the staff reported the Re-app dashboard was more user-friendly. Support and follow-up from an addiction specialist staff member were suggested to complement the apps, thereby increasing the time consumption for staff.

CONCLUSIONS

This pilot study to test prototype apps generated helpful feedback for the app developers. Based on the patient and staff comments, multiple improvements in functionality seem required before scaling up the evaluation for effect on prehabilitation and postoperative complications.

Impact of Digital Health upon the Surgical Patient Experience: The Patient as Consumer

The adoption of digital health services in surgical care delivery is changing the patient experience. The goal of patient-generated health data monitoring incorporated with patient-centered education and feedback is to optimally prepare patients for surgery and personalize postoperative care to improve outcomes that matter to both patients and surgeons. Challenges include the need for the adoption of new methods for implementation and evaluation and equitable application of surgical digital health interventions, with considerations for accessibility as well as the development of new diagnostics and decision support that include the needs and characteristics of all populations served.

Anesthesiologists and the Other Pandemic: Tobacco Use

Tobacco use will kill a projected 1 billion people in the 21st century in one of the deadliest pandemics in history. Tobacco use disorder is a disease with a natural history, pathophysiology, and effective treatment options. Anesthesiologists can play a unique role in fighting this pandemic, providing both immediate (reduction in perioperative risk) and long-term (reduction in tobacco-related diseases) benefits to their patients who are its victims. Receiving surgery is one of the most powerful stimuli to quit tobacco. Tobacco treatments that combine counseling and pharmacotherapy (e.g., nicotine replacement therapy) can further increase quit rates and reduce risk of morbidity such as pulmonary and wound-related complications. The perioperative setting provides a great opportunity to implement multimodal perianesthesia tobacco treatment, which combines multiple evidence-based tactics to implement the four core components of consistent ascertainment and documentation of tobacco use, advice to quit, access to pharmacotherapy, and referral to counseling resources.

Perioperative digital behaviour change interventions for reducing alcohol consumption, improving dietary intake, increasing physical activity and smoking cessation: a scoping review

BACKGROUND

Evidence suggests that unhealthy lifestyle behaviours are modifiable risk factors for postoperative complications. Digital behaviour change interventions (DBCIs), for instance text messaging programs and smartphone apps, have shown promise in achieving lifestyle behaviour change in a wide range of clinical populations, and it may therefore be possible to reduce postoperative complications by supporting behaviour change perioperatively using digital interventions. This scoping review was conducted in order to identify existing research done in the area of perioperative DBCIs for reducing alcohol consumption, improving dietary intake, increasing physical activity and smoking cessation.

MAIN TEXT

This scoping review included eleven studies covering a range of surgeries: bariatric, orthopaedic, cancer, transplantation and elective surgery. The studies were both randomised controlled trials and feasibility studies and investigated a diverse set of interventions: one game, three smartphone apps, one web-based program and five text message interventions. Feasibility studies reported user acceptability and satisfaction with the behaviour change support. Engagement data showed participation rates ranged from 40 to 90%, with more participants being actively engaged early in the intervention period. In conclusion, the only full-scale randomised controlled trial (RCT), text messaging ahead of bariatric surgery did not reveal any benefits with respect to adherence to preoperative exercise advice when compared to a control group. Two of the pilot studies, one text message intervention, one game, indicated change in a positive direction with respect to alcohol and tobacco outcomes, but between group comparisons were not done due to small sample sizes. The third pilot-study, a smartphone app, found between group changes for physical activity and alcohol, but not with respect to smoking cessation outcomes.

CONCLUSION

This review found high participant satisfaction, but shows recruitment and timing-delivery issues, as well as low retention to interventions post-surgery. Small sample sizes and the use of a variety of feasibility outcome measures prevent the synthesis of results and makes generalisation difficult. Future research should focus on defining standardised outcome measures, enhancing patient engagement and improving adherence to behaviour change prior to scheduled surgery.

Effects of a Text Messaging Smoking Cessation Intervention Among Online Help Seekers and Primary Health Care Visitors in Sweden: Protocol for a Randomized Controlled Trial Using a Bayesian Group Sequential Design

BACKGROUND

A steady decline of the smoking prevalence in Sweden has been recorded over the past decade; however, people still start and continue to smoke. There is a need for effective smoking cessation interventions that can scale to a national level and that are designed to reach individuals requiring smoking cessation support in the general population.

OBJECTIVE

Previous randomized controlled trials of smoking cessation interventions among high school and university students in Sweden have found consistent evidence that text messaging interventions are effective in helping students quit smoking. However, there are no studies that investigate the effects of text messaging interventions in a more general population. The objective of this study is to estimate the effects of a text messaging intervention on individuals seeking help to quit online and individuals visiting primary health care units.

METHODS

A 2-arm, parallel-group (1:1), randomized controlled trial will be employed to address the study objectives. The trial will follow a Bayesian group sequential design. Recruitment will be conducted using online advertisement (Google, Bing, and Facebook) and through health care professionals at primary health care units. All participants will receive treatment as usual; however, participants who are allocated to the intervention arm will also be given access to a 12-week text message smoking cessation intervention. Primary outcomes are 8-week prolonged abstinence and 4-week point prevalence, measured 3 months and 6 months postrandomization. Mediator variables (self-efficacy, importance, and know-how) will be measured to estimate causal mediation models.

RESULTS

Recruitment commenced in September 2020 and will not exceed 24 months. This means that a complete dataset will be available at the latest towards the end of 2022. We expect to publish the findings from this trial by June 2023.

CONCLUSIONS

This trial will further our understanding of the effects of text messaging interventions among a more general population than has previously been studied. We also aim to learn about differential effects between those who seek support online and those who are given facilitated support at primary health care units. Trial recruitment is limited to the Swedish population; however, a strength of this study is the pragmatic way in which participants are recruited. Through online advertisements, individuals are recruited in reaction to their own interest in seeking help to quit. At primary health care units, individuals who were not necessarily looking for smoking cessation support are given information about the trial. This closely mimics the way the intervention would be disseminated in a real-world setting and may therefore strengthen the argument of generalizability of findings.

TRIAL REGISTRATION

ISRCTN 13455271; http://www.isrctn.com/ISRCTN13455271.

INTERNATIONAL REGISTERED REPORT IDENTIFIER (IRRID)

PRR1-10.2196/23677.