Contact email

sagarwal14@bwh.harvard.edu

Overview

This study evaluates the effectiveness of a visual decision aid using birthday cakes to show years of life that could be gained from smoking cessation at an urban safety net hospital compared to motivational interviewing techniques alone.

Department

Medicine

Division

General Internal Medicine and Primary Care

Collaborators

Sumit D. Agarwal, MD
Matthew Kerwin, MD
Jacob Meindertsma, MD
Andrew Wolf, MD

Status/Stage of Development

Pilot

Measurement

Primary outcome assessed was readiness to quit, measured by using a previously validated contemplation ladder. The secondary outcome assessed was making a quit attempt.

Results

Patients from an underserved population were receptive to a visual and personalized decision aid.

No significant difference was observed in readiness to quit with and without the decision aid based on quit attempt or position on readiness-to-quit ladder immediately after the interview, at 1 month, and at 3 months.

Practice Setting

Urban Safety Net Hospital

Tools or Products Developed

Sources

1. Agarwal SD, Kerwin M, Meindertsma J, Wolf AMD. A Novel Decision Aid to Encourage Smoking Cessation Among Patients at an Urban Safety Net Clinic. Prev Chronic Dis. 2018;15:E124. doi:10.5888/pcd15.180215