Project Summary
Tobacco use is the single leading cause of preventable death, disability and disease in the United States.
Adolescence is a critical developmental period to intervene as 90% of adult tobacco users initiate during this
period. Use of electronic nicotine delivery system (ENDS), which are noncombustible tobacco products (e.g.,
e-cigarettes), has increased dramatically among youth and is associated with numerous adverse health
outcomes as well as use of alcohol and other illicit substances. National guidelines recommend counseling to
address tobacco use at every adolescent clinical visit; however, many at-risk adolescents do not routinely
attend primary care. There are more than 1.5 million adolescent hospitalizations annually and many of these
patients are at increased risk for tobacco use and tobacco-related poor health outcomes due to underlying
comorbidities (e.g., mental health disorders, substance use disorders, asthma). Although evidence supports
treatment of tobacco use during an adult hospitalization, no interventions have been developed or tested in the
pediatric hospital setting. Based on promising theoretically-based evidence from the primary care and hospital
settings, we propose to design, iteratively refine and assess implementation of a novel tobacco and ENDS use
intervention for hospitalized adolescents and young adults (AYAs). We will develop the intervention to treat
tobacco and ENDS use in hospitalized AYAs utilizing the 5A’s framework with motivational interviewing,
pharmacotherapy and computerized decision support tools. We will iteratively refine the intervention based on
key stakeholder feedback, including AYAs, parents/guardians and hospital providers. We will conduct a
randomized controlled pilot study (n=144) with 3-month follow up to evaluate preliminary efficacy as well as
implementation outcomes (i.e., acceptability, feasibility, fidelity). Through conduct of these formative research
activities I will gain critical skills and expertise in the design and preliminary evaluation of behavioral
interventions within the context of complex health care systems. We anticipate these findings will directly
inform future plans for a hybrid implementation trial of the intervention to determine efficacy for short and long-
term ENDS abstinence. This work is significant as it has the potential to increase screening and treatment of
tobacco and ENDS use in AYAs leading to decreased rates of use and related poor health outcomes.