Background and aims
Rates of
tobacco smoking are extremely high among people cycling through Australian
prisons. In 2015, it was estimated that the prevalence of tobacco smoking in prison entrants was estimated at 74%. People with histories of incarceration experience
disproportionate rates of smoking-related health problems including cancer,
chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and cardiovascular disease; these
disparities are often compounded by entrenched socio-economic disadvantage.
Correctional authorities in Australia and elsewhere are progressively
implementing smoke-free policies that prohibit tobacco smoking on prison
grounds for both people who are incarcerated and prison staff. However,
correctional smoking bans are insufficient to maintain smoking abstinence after
release from prison. Interventions to prevent relapse to smoking after release
from smoke-free prisons are urgently needed. The SQuARe
trial is a double-blinded, multi-site, randomised control trial of an
intervention designed to support continued abstinence from smoking among
previously smoking adults released from smoke-free prisons in Victoria.
The project aims are to evaluate
the effects of a brief smoking cessation support intervention on:
- Biochemically-verified prevention of smoking relapse (quit
success);
- Among those reporting relapse, biochemically verified recovery from
relapse;
- Utilisation of abstinence supports (Quitline, GPs, nicotine
replacement therapy) in the first three months after release from prison.
In
addition, among those who relapse during follow-up, we will measure time to
first relapse, intention to quit, quit attempts, and tobacco consumption.
Collaborators
Corrections Victoria
Quit Victoria
Australian Community Support Organisation
(ACSO)
Funders
The Victorian Health Promotion
Foundation (VicHealth)
Key papers
Young, J. T., Puljević, C., Love, A. D., Janca, E. K., Segan, C. J., Baird, D., Whiffen, R., Pappos, S., Bell, E., & Kinner, S. A. (2019). Staying Quit After Release (SQuARe) trial protocol: a randomised controlled trial of a multicomponent intervention to maintain smoking abstinence after release from smoke-free prisons in Victoria, Australia. BMJ open, 9(6), e027307. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjopen-2018-027307
Key contact
Chief investigator, Professor
Stuart Kinner