Abstract:

INTRODUCTION:When the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services announced coverage for low dose CT lung cancer screening, they also mandated that imaging centers offer smoking cessation services. We designed the Optimizing Lung Screening (OaSiS) trial to evaluate strategies to implement the Public Health Service Guidelines for Treating Tobacco Use and Dependence during CT screening for lung cancer. METHODS AND DESIGN:OaSiS was implemented using a pragmatic effectiveness-implementation hybrid design in 26 imaging clinics across the United States affiliated with the National Cancer Institute's National Community Oncology Research Program (NCORP). The 26 sites selected for participation in the OaSiS trial were randomized to receive either a compendium of implementation strategies to add or enhance smoking cessation services during lung screening or to usual care. Usual care sites were given the option to receive the full compendium of implementation strategies at the conclusion of data collection. We have evaluated both the effectiveness of the implementation strategies to improve smoking cessation at six months among patients undergoing LDCT screening as well as the adoption and sustainability of evidence-based tobacco cessation strategies in imaging clinics. DISCUSSION:The OaSiS trial was designed to identify opportunities for implementing evidence-based smoking cessation into LDCT lung cancer screening imaging facilities and to establish the effectiveness of these services. We report our study design and evaluation, including strengths of the pragmatic design and the inclusion of a diverse range of screening programs. Establishing these tobacco cessation services will be critical to reducing smoking related morbidity and mortality.