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1 Veterans Affairs's Health Services Research and Development Service, Center for Practice Management and Outcomes Research, VA Ann Arbor Healthcare System; Departments of 2 Otolaryngology and 3 Psychiatry, University of Michigan Medical School, 4 School of Nursing, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan; 5 North Texas Veterans Healthcare System; Departments of 6 Psychiatry and 7 Otolaryngology, University of Texas Southwestern Medical School, Dallas, Texas; and 8 Department of Otolaryngology, Malcom Randall Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Gainesville, Florida
Requests for reprints: Sonia A. Duffy, Veterans Affairs Health Services Research and Development Service, Center for Practice Management and Outcomes Research, VA Ann Arbor Healthcare System (11H), P.O. Box 130170, Ann Arbor, MI 48113-0170. Phone: 734-769-7100 ext. 6210; Fax: 734-761-2939. E-mail: Sonia.Duffy{at}med.va.gov
| Abstract |
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Methods: Patients with head and neck cancer with at least one of these disorders were recruited from the University of Michigan and three Veterans Affairs medical centers. Subjects were randomized to usual care or nurse-administered intervention consisting of cognitive behavioral therapy and medications. Data collected included smoking, alcohol use, and depressive symptoms at baseline and at 6 months.
Results: The mean age was 57 years. Most participants were male (84%) and White (90%). About half (52%) were married, 46% had a high school education or less, and 52% were recruited from Veterans Affairs sites. The sample was fairly evenly distributed across three major head and neck cancer sites and over half (61%) had stage III/IV cancers. Significant differences in 6-month smoking cessation rates were noted with 47% quitting in the intervention compared with 31% in usual care (P < 0.05). Alcohol and depression rates improved in both groups, with no significant differences in 6-month depression and alcohol outcomes.
Conclusion: Treating comorbid smoking, problem drinking, and depression may increase smoking cessation rates above that of usual care and may be more practical than treating these disorders separately. (Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev 2006;15(11):22038)
| Introduction |
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After diagnosis, approximately one-third of patients with head and neck cancer continue to smoke, 16% continue to drink hazardously, and 46% are depressed (9). Depression likely impedes smoking and alcohol cessation efforts. However, few, if any, oncology and otolaryngology clinics have standardized protocols to treat these conditions. Even when patients with head and neck cancer are referred and treated for these disorders, there are often problems with service delivery. Each disorder is typically addressed separately: smokers are referred to cessation clinics, problem drinkers are referred to substance abuse clinics, and depressed patients are referred to mental health clinics. Thus, patients with multiple problems, who are already dealing with complex cancer treatments, may require additional appointments in several different clinics. This is a considerable burden for patients who are ill and have limited resources and difficulty with transportation.
Treating smoking, problem drinking, and depression separately may be inefficient given the similar treatment interventions for these disorders. For example, cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) techniques are an effective treatment for all three disorders (10-13). There are also common pharmacologic interventions (e.g., bupropion; refs. 14, 15) that address smoking and depression. Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors, such as paroxetine, are effective antidepressants and may also decrease alcohol consumption, at least temporarily (16, 17). Nicotine replacement therapy can double smoking cessation rates when compared with counseling alone or no intervention (18, 19).
In summary, there is a high prevalence of smoking, alcohol use, and depression among patients with head and neck cancer, and a strong interrelationship among these conditions. The difficulties with service delivery for treating these disorders individually and the similarities in treatment modalities suggest that it may be both more efficient and effective to address these conditions in combination. Hence, we developed and tested a tailored intervention for patients with head and neck cancer that included CBT, nicotine replacement therapy, and selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor management for smoking, alcohol use, and depression.
| Materials and Methods |
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Sample
Inclusion criteria were patients with head and neck cancer from the time of diagnosis and thereafter who: (a) screened positive for one or more of the three health problems of smoking, alcohol, and depression; (b) were not pregnant; and, (c) were >18 years of age. Exclusion criterion included individuals who: (a) were nonEnglish speaking; (b) had distant metastatic disease and/or were terminal; and, (c) had unstable psychiatric/mental conditions such as suicidal ideation, acute psychosis, severe alcohol dependence, or dementia. The inclusion/exclusion criteria were designed to target those patients with head and neck cancer who might benefit from the tailored intervention and exclude those patients for whom the intervention might be insufficient or burdensome.
Recruitment Procedure
Patients with head and neck cancer at all sites were screened in the waiting room of the ENT clinic. Research assistants distributed a paper and pencil questionnaire on smoking, alcohol, and depression. Patients received $10.00 for completing this baseline questionnaire. Patients that screened positive for one or more of these disorders were referred to the study nurse and recruited to the study. The nurse completed a baseline assessment using a semistructured interview. Patients with severe alcohol dependence or severe major depression (patients requiring supervised detoxification or with Hamilton Depression Rating Scale scores >20 or suicidal ideations) were not recruited, but instead referred to specialty care. Eligible patients with at least one of the disorders of smoking, drinking, and depression were recruited to the study and randomized to either enhanced usual care or intervention.
Description of the Intervention
All patients received a 45-minute nursing assessment to substantiate and fully assess self-reported smoking, alcohol problem, and depression followed by brief counseling related to these disorders. Those randomized to enhanced usual care were referred as needed for smoking cessation, and/or alcohol treatment, and/or psychiatric evaluation. Patients received a handout for local, state, and national resources tailored to each study site. For example, those who screened positive for alcohol problems in Ann Arbor were referred to the Alcoholics Anonymous meetings in their area. Additional referrals were tailored to the patients needs, insurance, and ability to pay. Enhanced usual care provided equal attention to the control group and ensured that usual care options were standardized and implemented fully.
Those randomized to the intervention received a CBT workbook, 9 to 11 sessions of CBT telephone counseling, and pharmacologic management as needed. The workbook, Beating the Habits Beating Us: Taking Control of Your Moods, Smoking and Drinking Habits, was developed for patient use based on CBT techniques, at an eighth grade reading level, with large print, color pictures, stories, and written exercises. CBT approaches emphasize goal setting, self-monitoring, analyzing behavioral antecedents, coping skills, and social skills training (10). The four sections of the workbook included: Core Chapters (e.g., "Links between head and neck cancer and smoking, depression and alcohol," "Basic CBT techniques: managing downbeat thoughts and ideas"); Tobacco Tactics (e.g., "Are you ready for change," "Coping with cravings," "Coping with relapses"); Drinking Decisions (e.g., "Goal setting," "Assessing high risk situations"); and Mood Management (e.g., "What is depression," "Coping with common problems"). The nurse coordinated workbook readings/assignments with tailored CBT telephone sessions. Those who smoked were offered nicotine replacement therapy and/or bupropion, and those with depression were offered antidepressants. The specific pharmaceutical protocols for tailored treatments are outlined in Appendix A. The intervention incorporated guideline recommendations for treatment of each individual disorder and capitalized on the similarities in these recommendations.
The nurse at the University of Michigan and Ann Arbor VA (where over half of the patients were recruited) received extensive training on CBT, smoking, alcohol, and depression. This training included attending conferences and observing a CBT group. This nurse trained the nurses at the other study sites, who also observed CBT sessions. All of the nurses received supervision from a psychiatrist on a case by case basis. To ensure the fidelity of the intervention and offer booster training, the primary investigator made two visits to all four sites so that 6.5% of all initial patient contacts were observed.
Follow-up
After receiving the intervention, patients were asked to complete a 6-month follow-up questionnaire almost identical to the baseline questionnaire. Participants received $10.00 for completion of the 6-month follow-up questionnaire. Six-month smoking, problem drinking, and depression rates for the group receiving enhanced usual care were compared with those who received the intervention.
Demographic and Clinical Variables
Demographic measures obtained from the baseline survey included age, gender, race, marital status, and educational level. Because there were few African-American and other race participants, race was dichotomized into White and non-White. Marital status was classified into married versus not married. Education was classified into high school or less versus some college or more. Hospital site was classified into University versus VA site. Clinical measures abstracted from the medical records included tumor site (larynx, oropharynx/hypopharynx, and oral cavity/other) and stage (0, I, and II versus stages III and IV).
Smoking, Alcohol, and Depression Measures
Because smoking relapse rates can be high in the first few months of quitting, patients who smoked in the past 6 months were considered current smokers, ensuring that transient cessation attempts were not considered quitting. Those who were not currently smoking at 6 months of follow-up were considered quitters. The validated, 10-item Alcohol Use Disorder Identification Test (20) was used to assess the level of alcohol intake and related problems, including hazardous drinking, alcohol abuse, and symptoms of dependence. A score of 8 or more on the Alcohol Use Disorder Identification Test indicated problem drinking. Probable depression was measured using the validated Geriatric Depression Scale-Short Form, whose efficacy as a screener was not affected by age in the range 50 to 96 years (21, 22). A score of 4 or more on the Geriatric Depression Scale-Short Form indicated probable depression. These criteria were used to: (a) determine study eligibility (one or more of these present), (b) make referrals for enhanced usual care or select treatment components for the intervention, and (c) evaluate the outcome of the intervention versus enhanced usual care.
Data Analysis
Descriptive statistics (means or frequency distributions) were computed for all variables. Bivariate analyses using
2 and Student's t tests compared those eligible and not randomized to those randomized and also compared those in the control group to those in the experimental group on age, gender, race, marital status, educational level, hospital site, tumor site, tumor stage, smoking, alcohol use, and depressive symptoms using a Bonferroni correction. Because the groups were comparable on the aforementioned baseline characteristics,
2 tests of association were used to compare the 6-month smoking, alcohol, and depression outcomes of those in the control group to those in the experimental group using an intention to treat analysis. In other words, those randomized who smoked, were problem drinkers, or had depression at baseline and were lost to follow-up due to inability to contact or death, remained in the final analyses and were considered to be smokers, problem drinkers, or have depression at 6 months of follow-up. Subanalyses were conducted to further describe quit rates among groups of smokers. Descriptive statistics were conducted to depict the improvement in rates of smoking, problem drinking, and depression based on the constellation of co-occurring disorders. Self-reported services received by the participants in the control and intervention groups are also reported.
| Results |
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When patients who were eligible, but not randomized, were compared with those randomized, the groups were comparable on all but two characteristics. Participants were significantly more likely to be from one of the VA hospitals versus the University hospital (P < 0.05). Smokers were also significantly more likely to participate in the randomized control trial than nonsmokers (P < 0.05), whereas there were no differences in participation rates for those who did and did not screen positive for problem drinking or depressive symptoms. Of the 184 patients that were randomized, 154 (84%) returned the 6-month follow-up survey; those who did not return a survey did so because they either died (4%, n = 8) or were lost to follow-up (12%, n = 22). The loss to follow-up was evenly distributed between the two randomized groups. The enhanced usual care control group and experimental intervention group were comparable on baseline characteristics (see Table 1 ).
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Of those randomized, 74% (n = 136) smoked in the past 6 months, 28% (n = 52) were problem drinkers, and 69% (n = 126) screened positive for probable depression. Forty-one percent (n = 75) screened positive for only one of these disorders, 48% (n = 88) screened positive for two of these disorders, and 11% (n = 21) screened positive for all three disorders. When examining the entire sample (n = 136 smokers),
2 tests indicated that there was a significant difference in smoking cessation with 47% quitting in the intervention group compared with 31% quitting in the usual care group (P < 0.05). Using either cutoff or continuous scores, no significant differences in problem drinking and depressive symptoms were found between intervention and control subjects (see Table 2
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| Discussion |
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The intervention was not differentially efficacious in reducing drinking or depressive symptoms although clinically important reductions in alcohol use and depressive symptoms occurred in both the enhanced usual care and intervention groups; problem drinking was reduced by about one-third and depression was reduced by about one-quarter in both the enhanced usual care and intervention groups. Because baseline counseling for drinking and depression were provided in both study arms, this initial advice might have motivated both groups of patients to action. In other words, simply recognizing and referring patients, as done in the enhanced usual care group, may have been enough to produce results similar to the intervention group. Moreover, many usual care patients had already received antidepressant medications, suggesting that surgeons and oncologists treating patients with head and neck cancer may be screening and treating a sufficient number of patients for depression.
Trends shown in the subanalyses should be interpreted cautiously as the sample sizes are very small. That said, the intervention did not work well when treating individual disorders, however, the intervention worked for subgroups treated for selected comorbidities. Our anecdotal experience is that, despite their training, the nurses were much more comfortable treating smoking as opposed to problem drinking and depression, which may have resulted in less than ideal results for particular subgroups. A larger study would need to be conducted to determine the efficacy of treating subgroups with comorbid smoking, drinking, and depression.
Participation rates (42%) were slightly lower than other similar behavioral clinical trials, which are
50% (27). However, patients with head and neck cancer more frequently decline smoking cessation interventions compared with lung cancer patients (28). Yet, smokers in this study were more likely to participate than those with problem drinking and depression, suggesting that the intervention might be more attractive to smokers. Those with problem drinking and depression may be reluctant to discuss these issues. Different intervention strategies may be necessary to intervene with these traditionally hard to reach populations.
Those treated at the VA were more likely to participate than University patients. Anecdotally, we noted that veterans are very interested in participating in research for benevolent reasons. Veterans may also have fewer resources available to them, motivating them to take advantage of the services offered, especially because both arms of the randomized control trial offered some intervention.
There were several limitations to this study. Different criterion were used to identify smoking at baseline (smoked in the last 6 months) and smoking 6 months later (currently smoking) which may bias the results. Biochemical verification of smoking status (such as carbon monoxide monitoring or urine cotinine) was not done to minimize response burden for these very sick patients and also because many patients lived far away and were followed primarily by mail and phone. However, another study found concurrence between self-reported cessation and biochemical validation among patients with head and neck cancer to be 85% to 91% (23). The bupropion dose (150 mg twice a day) was the same for treating both smoking and depression; a higher dose for depression may have improved depression rates. Another limitation was that, despite the large number of patients screened, the sample size was small. Both new and posttreatment patients were included in the study and many posttreatment patients may have been excluded because they had already quit smoking. One might argue that those still smoking posttreatment represent "hard-core smokers." As such, finding an improvement in the intervention group was even a more impressive finding.
In summary, smoking rates among patients with head and neck cancer may be improved by clinic-based, nurse-administered interventions. Moreover, treating comorbid depression and alcohol, both known to exacerbate smoking, may improve cessation rates. To our knowledge, this is the first study to package a multifaceted intervention concurrently targeting smoking, problem drinking, and depression. Future research needs to be conducted to replicate these findings and further evaluate the efficacy of combination interventions for smoking, problem drinking, and depression.
| Appendix A. Pharmacologic management protocol for tailored intervention |
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For Smokers with Depression
For Problem Drinkers with Depression
For Patients with Problem Drinking, Smoking, and Depression
| Acknowledgments |
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| Footnotes |
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The costs of publication of this article were defrayed in part by the payment of page charges. This article must therefore be hereby marked advertisement in accordance with 18 U.S.C. Section 1734 solely to indicate this fact.
Received 11/14/05; revised 8/ 7/06; accepted 8/16/06.
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