OU Researchers Address Smoking Through Variety of Approaches

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OKLAHOMA CITY – Over the past year, researchers at the University of Oklahoma have earned approximately $8 million in National Institutes of Health funding to study multiple smoking cessation approaches, including the use of mobile health technologies. The researchers are part of the TSET Health Promotion Research Center (HPRC), a program of OU Health Stephenson Cancer Center.

From 2001 to 2023, smoking prevalence declined in Oklahoma from 28.6% to 15.8%. However, tobacco use in the state, among both adults and youth, continues to be above the national average.

According to the Oklahoma Tobacco Settlement Endowment Trust (TSET), a public grantmaking trust created with funds from lawsuits against tobacco companies:

• Oklahoma adults smoke at a rate of 15.8% compared to 11.5% of U.S. adults.
• Oklahoma high school students smoke at a rate of 4% compared to 1.9% of U.S. high schoolers.
• 3.4% of Oklahoma adults use smokeless tobacco every day, compared to 1.4% in the U.S.
• The annual health care cost in Oklahoma directly caused by smoking is $1.88 billion.
• Oklahoma residents’ state and federal tax burden from smoking-related government expenditures is $1,057 per household.
• 7,500 Oklahoma adults die each year from their own smoking.

HPRC addresses smoking cessation through a variety of research projects. With a $3 million grant from the National Cancer Institute, Darla Kendzor, Ph.D., will conduct a clinical trial that tests the effectiveness of the smoking cessation drug varenicline (a pill; brand name Chantix) either by itself or in combination with oral nicotine replacement therapy (lozenges).

“Varenicline is a first-line medication for tobacco cessation treatments. We want to see if we can increase the cessation rates by adding oral nicotine replacement therapy, which can help with breakthrough cravings,” said Kendzor, co-director of HPRC and a professor of family and preventive medicine at the OU College of Medicine.

In addition, some trial participants will use a smartphone app that reminds them to take their medication or use the lozenges. Kendzor said people tend not to use nicotine lozenges as frequently as they should.

“The signature of HPRC is our mobile health work,” she said. “Mobile health provides a way to reach participants. An app that provides education and medication reminders can potentially have a big impact.”

Other research is being led by Michael Businelle, Ph.D., co-director of HPRC and a professor of family and preventive medicine in the OU College of Medicine, and Julia McQuoid, Ph.D., assistant professor of family and preventive medicine. Businelle’s grant focuses on smoking among adults with chronic diseases. In her smoking cessation approach, McQuoid employs empowerment theory, which suggests that when people take part in activities that empower their communities, they may also experience cognitive and behavioral changes that support smoking cessation.

“The fact that our researchers have been successful in earning major NIH grants is a testament to the quality of their efforts to reduce smoking and improve health outcomes,” Businelle said.