Grants and Contracts Details
Description
PROJECT SUMMARY
Cigarette smoking is the leading cause of preventable death in the United States. Despite a substantial
decrease in cigarette smoking over the past decade, cigarette smoking accounts for nearly half a million
deaths nationally, more than alcohol and illicit drug use combined. People living with Intellectual and
Developmental Disabilities (IDDs) are exceptionally vulnerable to dangers posed by cigarette smoking.
People living with IDDs are at an increased risk of developing a TUD, have a lower likelihood of entering
treatment and have a higher probability of dropping out of treatment. In addition to the negative health
outcomes described above, cigarette smoking may worsen health conditions common among people with
IDDs, including diabetes and asthma. These issues highlight serious health equity concerns for people with
IDDs, including stigma, exclusion, underrepresentation, and lack of access to high quality care, and may
contribute to both the onset of cigarette smoking and serve as barriers to tobacco treatment enrollment. Taken
together, people with IDDs face significant barriers to engaging in smoking cessation treatment and are
therefore vulnerable to persistent TUD and tobacco-related disease. The goal of this this K99/R00 Pathway to
Independence Award is to elucidate treatment difficulties in IDD populations. Achieving this goal is a crucial
step in a larger process of establishing an essential line of research treating TUDs with people with IDDs.
Through this K99 we aim to complete 40 semi-structed interviews with staff and patients strategically selected
from IDD smoking treatment and community providers to 1) identify barriers that contribute to low TUD
treatment enrollment and high drop-out rates for people with IDDs, and 2) select and adapt an existing
intervention for use with those with IDDs. Through the R00 we will utilize the results of our K99 to evaluate the
feasibility, acceptability, and initial efficacy of a tailored, behavioral, smoking cessation intervention in this
population. The modified intervention, based on findings from the K99, will be implemented in a feasibility trial
in people with IDDs. Outcomes will include intervention feasibility and acceptability (primary outcome), self-
reported cigarette smoking (secondary outcome) and cigarette smoking measured by expired breath carbon
monoxide (secondary outcome). The results of this project will inform the development and implementation of a
larger randomized controlled trial to be conducted as part of a future R01 grant. This project will fill a profound
research gap by understanding significant smoking treatment barriers and developing and piloting a tailored
smoking cessation intervention for people with IDDs. This award will include substantial training and
mentorship from a diverse group of K99 mentors who will supplement Dr. Regnier’s experience in the
application of evidence-based treatments to IDD populations, and provide him with skills in implementation
science, clinical trial research, and professional development will help him obtain his goal of becoming a leader
in addiction research in people with IDDs.
Status | Active |
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Effective start/end date | 7/1/24 → 6/30/26 |
Funding
- National Institute on Drug Abuse: $124,919.00
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