Clinical trial on the efficacy of exhaled carbon monoxide measurement in smoking cessation in primary health care

Abstract

BackgroundSmoking cessation is beneficial for our health at any point in life, both in healthy people and in people already suffering from a smoking-related disease. Any help to quit smoking can produce considerable benefits for Public Health. The purpose of the present study is to evaluate the efficacy of the CO-oximetry technique together with brief advice in smoking cessation, in terms of reduction of the number of cigarettes or in the variation of the motivation to quit smoking at month 12 compared with brief advice alone.Methods/DesignRandomised, parallel, single-blind clinical trial in a primary health care setting in Majorca (Spain). Smokers in contemplation or pre-contemplation phase will be included in the study. Exclusion criteria: Smokers in preparation phase, subjects with a terminal illness or whose health status does not allow them to understand the study or complete the informed consent, and pregnant or breastfeeding women. The subjects will be randomly assigned to the control group (CG) or the intervention group (IG). The CG will receive brief advice, and the IG will receive brief advice together with a measurement of exhaled CO. There will be follow-up evaluations at 6 and 12 months after inclusion. 471 subjects will be needed per group in order to detect a difference between groups ≥ 5%. Primary outcome: sustained smoking cessation (at 6 and 12 months) confirmed by urine cotinine test. Secondary outcomes: point smoking cessation at 6 and 12 months both confirmed by urine cotinine analysis and self-reported, reduction in cigarette consumption, and variation in phase of smoking cessation.DiscussionCO-oximetry is an inexpensive, non-invasive, fast technique that requires little technical training; making it a technique for risk assessment in smokers that can be easily applied in primary care and, if proven effective, could serve as a reinforcement aid in smoking cessation intervention activities.Trial RegistrationCurrent Controlled Trials ISRCTN67499921

Effect of smoking cessation on non‐surgical periodontal therapy: results after 24 months

“…It corroborates results from other investigations (Ripoll et al. , Chen et al. ) which, in addition, pointed out that exhaled CO measurements may positively influence the success of the smoking cessation through a motivational effect, i.e.…”

“…This may be due to participant's prior knowledge about the validation of their smoking selfreport status using exhaled CO measurements. It corroborates results from other investigations (Ripoll et al 2012, Chen et al 2013 which, in addition, pointed out that exhaled CO measurements may positively influence the success of the smoking cessation through a motivational effect, i.e. by showing immediately to the patient the harmful consequences of exposure to cigarette smoke.…”

Utilizing exhaled carbon monoxide measurement with self‐declared smoking cessation: enhancing abstinence effectiveness in Taiwanese outpatients

“…Moreover, exhaled carbon monoxide (COExh) in alveolar after breath‐holding technique is in equilibrium with the concentration of carboxyhemoglobin (COHb) in the blood, which provides a rapid, accurate non‐invasive indirect measure of COHb . A number of cutoff levels ranging from 5–6 ppm depending on study population have been suggested for classification of smokers from nonsmokers , COExh for quitting smoking may produce considerable benefits for public health if proven effective . The hypothesis is that COExh can be suggested that some smokers who manage to quit smoking are more aware of the adverse effects of tobacco or to have had their health seriously compromised .…”

Effectiveness of an intensive E-mail based intervention in smoking cessation (TABATIC study): study protocol for a randomized controlled trial

“…Other studies in our country have used this model among diabetic smokers patients attended in primary care and to confirm smoking abstinence using cooximetry [18] and another where information gathered by cooximetry is the main element to motivate smokers to quit [19]. …”