The Impact of a Clinical Decision Support System for Addressing Physical Activity and Healthy Eating During Smoking Cessation Treatment: Hybrid Type I Randomized Controlled Trial

Background: People who smoke have other risk factors for chronic diseases, such as low levels of physical activity and poor diet. Clinical decision support systems (CDSSs) might help health care practitioners integrate interventions for diet and physical activity into their smoking cessation programming but could worsen quit rates. Objective: The aims of this study are to assess the effects of the addition of a CDSS for physical activity and diet on smoking cessation outcomes and to assess the implementation of the study. Methods: We conducted a pragmatic hybrid type I effectiveness-implementation trial with 232 team-based primary care practices in Ontario, Canada, from November 2019 to May 2021. We used a 2-arm randomized controlled trial comparing a CDSS addressing physical activity and diet to treatment as usual and used the Reach, Effectiveness, Adoption, Implementation, and Maintenance framework to measure implementation outcomes. The primary outcome was self-reported 7-day tobacco abstinence at 6 months. Results: We enrolled 5331 participants in the study. Of these, 2732 (51.2%) were randomized to the intervention group and 2599 (48.8%) to the control group. At the 6-month follow-up, 29.7% (634/2137) of respondents in the intervention arm and 27.3% (552/2020) in the control arm reported abstinence from tobacco. After multiple imputation, the absolute group difference was 2.1% (95% CI -0.5 to 4.6; F1,1000.42=2.43; P=.12). Mean exercise minutes changed from 32 (SD 44.7) to 110 (SD 196.1) in the intervention arm and from 32 (SD 45.1) to 113 (SD 195.1) in the control arm (group effect: B=-3.7 minutes; 95% CI -17.8 to 10.4; P=.61). Servings of fruit and vegetables changed from 2.64 servings to 2.42 servings in the intervention group and from 2.52 servings to 2.45 servings in the control group (incidence rate ratio for intervention group=0.98; 95% CI 0.93-1.02; P=.35). Conclusions: A CDSS for physical activity and diet may be added to a smoking cessation program without affecting the outcomes. Further research is needed to improve the impact of integrated health promotion interventions in primary care smoking cessation programs.Trial Registration: ClinicalTrials.gov NCT04223336 https://www.clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT04223336 International Registered Report Identifier (IRRID): RR2-10.2196/19157

Automated summary

This study aimed to assess the effects of a clinical decision support system (CDSS) for physical activity and diet on smoking cessation outcomes and to evaluate the implementation of the study. The results showed that the addition of CDSS did not significantly affect smoking cessation rates, exercise minutes, and fruit and vegetable intake. Further research is needed to improve the impact of integrated health promotion interventions on primary care smoking cessation programs.