Recent Studies

UW-CTRI has recently completed four studies, with data under analysis for dissemination.

1. Motivating Change in Aging People Who Smoke.This K23 award funded a research study to increase smoking cessation in adults aged 50 and older. While these adults smoke at lower rates (8.2%) than the general population (13%), their cessation rates are also lower, in part because they are less likely to be advised to quit or offered help by providers. A common misperception is that mature adults can’t or won’t quit and, if they do, they won’t benefit from it. But the research reflects the contrary. When they do try to quit, they’re generally more successful than younger people, especially when they use evidence-based treatments (which double their success). The study ran qualitative interviews to look at what might motivate older adults to quit. One potential incentive was pointing out that quitting smoking can reduce risk for cognitive decline—commonly cited as the greatest fear among mature adults, but one yet to be used for motivation with smoking cessation. UW-CTRI recruited participants via signs, posters, calls from each person’s clinic and a letter to motivate and offer treatment. Researchers compared that to a clinic with no message and a clinic with a standard motivational method. The group ran the study at three clinics in the same health system. They tuned into any behavioral health symptoms and the socioeconomic status of the participants to better analyze and interpret results. Drs. Megan Piper, Carey Gleason, Jane Mahoney and Jessica Cook are serving as co-mentors to Principal Investigator Dr. Adrienne Johnson. May 2021-Feb 2026, $782,000. Funded by the National Institute on Aging of the National Institutes of Health. Dr. Adrienne Johnson, PI.
2. Smoking Treatment for Oncology Patients (STOP Cancer). UW-CTRI reached out directly to more than 500 UW Carbone Cancer Center patients who smoked to let them know about their tobacco treatment options. Patients were invited to join a research study comparing two active treatments to see which helped more people with cancer to quit smoking. The short-term goals of the STOP Cancer Study were to identify specific smoking treatment needs of patients living with cancer and then to adapt smoking cessation treatment outreach and counseling to address those needs. People who consented to enter the STOP Cancer Study were randomized to a standard care condition offering three counseling calls and two weeks of nicotine patch, or to an enhanced condition offering seven counseling calls tailored to cancer challenges with 12 weeks of varenicline, a non-nicotine pill to see which active treatment helped more people quit smoking. Patients not interested in the study got standard treatment from the Wisconsin Tobacco Quit Line or mobile health tools from SmokeFree.gov. The long-term objective of this work was to identify promising strategies to evaluate in larger-scale trials and then disseminate to cancer programs. This was part of the larger UW-CTRI effort to improve cessation treatment effectiveness and delivery for patients living with cancer. They found this proactive, opt-out approach to be feasible, sustainable and scalable. August 2023-July 2025, $510,000. Funded by the UW Carbone Cancer Center Head & Neck Cancer SPORE (Specialized Programs of Research Excellence) via the National Cancer Institute, NIH. Dr. Danielle McCarthy, PI.
3. Breaking Addiction to Tobacco for Health 2 (BREATHE 2). As part of their fifth consecutive, five-year NIH Center grant, researchers at the University of Wisconsin compared the most effective treatments to help people quit smoking in real-world clinics, with a goal of tailoring and optimizing help to people who smoke. UW-CTRI partnered with health systems to treat more than 4,000 clinic patients. They contacted patients who smoked per the electronic health records to help those who are ready to quit and to motivate those who aren’t. About 25 million people who smoke in America make a primary care visit each year, but only about five percent of people who smoke who try to quit use the cessation counseling and medication we know can help. In this study, the research team contacted them and offered these treatments. May 2019-May 2025, $12.5 million. Funded by the National Cancer Institute, NIH. Drs. Timothy Baker and Michael Fiore, PIs.
4. Veteran Smokers Health Study.The US Department of Veterans Affairs awarded a Merit Award to Dr. Jessica Cook to evaluate a chronic care smoking intervention designed to help Veterans who are initially not ready to quit smoking. The study (N=503), which was conducted at the Madison VA, compared a chronic care intervention (designed to motivate and prepare veterans to make quit attempts) with a standard care intervention (involving one offer of a cessation treatment per year). The chronic care intervention involved providing repeated motivational interventions and interpersonal support over the two-year study period while offering treatment options for those ready (and not ready) to quit. The study, implemented by VA researchers Elana Brubaker and Kirsten Webster, used proactive outreach to recruit Veterans whose medical records indicated they used tobacco. It involved remote treatment delivery to help reach veterans living in rural areas. They completed data collection and the study team plans to conduct analyses to determine whether chronic care increases quit attempts, treatment use and abstinence relative to standard care. January 2019-September 2025, $1 million. Funded by the VA. Dr. Jess Cook, PI.