Implementing Sustainable Mobile Health Technology to Optimize a Smoking Cessation Program for Lao People With HIV (Project I-STOP): Protocol for a Hybrid Type-2 Pragmatic Effectiveness-Implementation Study

Background

Tobacco use remains the leading modifiable risk factor for causing cancer worldwide, particularly among people with HIV. In Laos, 61%-80% of male people with HIV and 3%-10% of female people with HIV smoke cigarettes. They currently have no theoretically and empirically based smoking cessation support. Our team developed a scalable and affordable mHealth (mobile health)-based automated treatment program to support Lao and Cambodian smokers to quit smoking. We also pioneered the Ask-Advise-Connect approach to identify patients who smoke and to connect them to treatment.