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Offering financial incentives to people trying to quit smoking nearly doubled cessation rates among medically underserved adults undergoing lung cancer screening, according to a large national clinical trial involving Henry Ford Health.
The randomized trial, recently published in JAMA, enrolled more than 3,200 adults across five U.S. medical centers, including Henry Ford Health, Penn Medicine, Lancaster General Health, Geisinger and Kaiser Permanente Southern California. Participants were primarily from populations that traditionally face barriers to high-quality health care, including individuals with lower incomes, those living in rural communities and Black and Hispanic adults.
Researchers compared four smoking cessation strategies. After six months, 8.8% of participants who received free smoking cessation medications and could earn up to $600 in financial incentives had quit, compared with 4.3% receiving usual care. Smoking abstinence was verified through blood or urine testing.
"These are people who have smoked for many years and may have tried to quit before, so we know how difficult successfully quitting can be," said Christine Neslund-Dudas, a Henry Ford Health researcher and study investigator. "What's encouraging about these findings is that they give us another tool to consider, particularly for people who may face additional barriers to quitting."
The study also points to an opportunity for health systems to connect tobacco treatment with lung cancer screening.
People undergoing lung cancer screening are already at increased risk of developing the disease because of their smoking history.
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