Efficacy of a Brief Tobacco Intervention for Tobacco and Nicotine Containing Product Use in the US Air Force

Abstract

Introduction: While effective Brief Tobacco Interventions (BTIs) are available for cigarette smoking and smokeless tobacco, given the changing prevalence of tobacco and nicotine containing products (TNCPs), there is a need for interventions targeting a broader range of TNCPs (eg, cigarettes, smokeless tobacco, electronic cigarettes, and hookah). The purpose of the current investigation was to evaluate the efficacy of a BTI, a 40-minute intervention designed to intervene on four TNCPs in a sample of US military personnel during an 11-week period of involuntary tobacco abstinence, for reducing intentions to use TNCPs and increasing perceptions of harm of TNCPs.

Methods: The BTI was administered to 1055 Airmen enrolled in Technical Training in the US Air Force. Assessments of perceived harm and intentions to use nine TNCPs (cigarettes, smokeless tobacco, snus, cigars, cigarillos, pipe, e-cigarettes, roll your own cigarettes, and hookah), were assessed at pretest and posttest (immediately following the BTI).

Results: Significant increases in perceived harm were observed across all nine TNCPs (all P < .0001) for both users and nonusers. Intentions to use TNCPs were significantly reduced for most products but mainly among users.

Conclusions: Results suggested that a BTI shows promise for impacting TNCP use in a military population. Further research should evaluate the behavioral outcomes (tobacco use) as a result of the intervention.

Implications: Given that there are 220 000 new trainees in the military every year, the public health implications of an effective BTI targeting the most commonly used TNCPs for military trainees is considerable.