Duration Adjustments in Scheduled Reduced Smoking

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Innovation in behavioral therapies for smoking cessation has been overshadowed by pharmacological approaches for two decades. The advent of handheld computerized devices has ushered in a resurgence of interest in behavioral approaches that can better serve the huge market of smokers who want to quit by using self-managed approaches. Great advances have been facilitated by electronic means of monitoring usage, tailoring treatments, delivering complex regimens, and giving instantaneous feedback. Scheduled smoking reduction has proven highly efficacious when executed with technological devices. Pioneering studies, however, employed a three-stage step-down regimen of 21 days, following a baseline data collection week. This one-size-fits-all, arbitrary protocol was an excellent start, but the protocol potentially has twice the effectiveness when it is customized to individual nuances, as we demonstrated in Phase I. This study will test a technique for adjusting treatment durations using current state technology. The strategy compares users' compliance with recent protocols and prescribes frequent course corrections that are designed to keep the user engaged in the process. Uniquely designed to perform reduction algorithms, our computerized interactive communicator will be the delivery system for this regimen. The device significantly raises the standards for precise usage data collection and regimen tailoring.