SMS Turkey: Harnessing the power of TXT messaging to promote smoking cessation

说明(申请人提供)：长期以来，吸烟一直被认为是一个重大的公共卫生问题，与极高的发病率和死亡率有关。尽管高收入国家的吸烟率有所下降，但这两个国家和中等收入国家并没有注意到这一趋势。土耳其的情况尤其如此，该国的吸烟消费量位居世界第六。15岁及以上的土耳其男性吸烟者占51%-63%，土耳其女性吸烟者占24%-26%。由于肺癌是男性和女性的主要癌症相关死亡原因，因此需要有效和可获得的戒烟干预措施。手机技术代表着一个独特的机会，通过一种已经被成年人广泛采用的传递机制来提供以证据为基础的戒烟行为治疗。据估计，有3500万土耳其人正在使用手机，这使得手机的普及率是固定电话的1.8倍。手机干预是一种独特的传递方式，因为它具有“始终在线”的能力。手机的迅速普及使我们有可能接触到那些本来可能不使用戒烟服务的人。为了响应申请(RFA-TW-06-006)，我们建议设计和评估一种基于证据的吸烟干预措施，该干预措施利用土耳其成年吸烟者采用的技术。基于STOMP(Stop Smoking By Mobile Phone)新西兰，这是一个基于TXT信息的戒烟计划，短信(Smoking Management System)土耳其将是一项以社区为基础的干预措施，具有广泛的覆盖面和高度的影响。为此，我们汇集了一个由吸烟和技术健康专家组成的多国团队，致力于在土耳其建设戒烟研究专业知识的能力，以减少土耳其与吸烟相关的公共健康负担。使用定性方法为设计和内容提供信息，定量方法评估可行性和潜在干预效果，我们建议开发SMS土耳其戒烟计划，这是一项创新的戒烟计划，使用目标不足的成年人广泛采用的技术，提供基于认知行为疗法(CBT)的、理论上扎根的前瞻性干预。同时，我们将通过培训两名医学研究员成为戒烟研究人员，并继续加强国际研究联系，来建设土耳其未来戒烟努力的能力。手机的高覆盖率使我们有可能接触到本来不会使用传统戒烟服务的吸烟者，这意味着可能会对公共健康产生重大影响。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Smoking has long been recognized as a significant public health concern associated with great morbidity and mortality. Although smoking rates have decreased in high income countries, these trends have not been noted for tow and middle income countries. This is especially true in Turkey, which was ranked 6th in the world in smoking consumption. Between 51-63% of Turkish men and 24-26% of Turkish women 15 years of age and older are smokers. With lung cancer the leading cancer-related cause of death for both men and women, effective and accessible smoking cessation interventions are needed. Cell phone technology represents a unique opportunity to deliver evidenced-based smoking cessation behavioral treatments through a delivery mechanism already widely adopted by adults. An estimated 35 million Turks were using cell phones, making them 1.8 times more common than land lines. Cell phone interventions are a unique delivery method because of their 'always on' capability. The rapid uptake of cell phones allows us to potentially reach those who might otherwise not utilize smoking cessation services. In this response to Request for Applications (RFA-TW-06-006), we propose to design and evaluate an evidenced-based smoking intervention that takes advantage of technologies adopted by adult smokers in Turkey. Based upon STOMP (Stop smoking by Mobile Phone) New Zealand, a TXT messaging-based smoking cessation program, SMS (Smoking Management System) Turkey will be a community-based intervention that has both wide reach and high impact. To do so, we bring together a multi-national team of smoking and technology health experts dedicated to building the capacity of smoking cessation research expertise in Turkey to reduce the public health burden associated with smoking in Turkey. Using qualitative methods to inform design and content and quantitative methods to assess the feasibility and potential intervention effect, we propose to develop SMS Turkey, an innovative smoking cessation program that uses technology widely adopted by adults, an under-targeted population, to deliver a proactive, cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT)-based, theoretically grounded intervention. Simultaneously, we will build the capacity for future smoking cessation efforts in Turkey by training two medical fellows to become smoking cessation researchers, and continuing to strengthen international research ties. The high reach of cell phones allows us to potentially reach smokers who would otherwise not utilize traditional smoking cessation services, representing the possibility of a large public health impact.