Of the approximately one million persons living with HIV (PLWH) in the United States (U.S.), it is estimated that between 34-47% smoke cigarettes, around three times the prevalence (12.5%) observed in the general U.S. adult population. Consequently, PLWH experience substantial tobacco-related morbidity and mortality. In PLWH, after achieving and maintaining a suppressed viral load, smoking cessation is the next most important health behavior to maximize both quality of life and life expectancy. Given the high prevalence of cigarette smoking among PLWH and the benefit of smoking cessation, there is an urgent need for swift action to intervene to reduce tobacco use rates. However, evidence to improve tobacco cessation among PLWH is inadequate. Given the need for improving smoking cessation in PLWH, and the great promise of mHealth tools, this research study will assess smoking behaviors in people living with HIV and the subsequent efficacy of mHealth intervention for improving tobacco cessation.
The overall goal of this pilot study is to evaluate the feasibility of the Lumme smartphone app for smoking cessation in people living with HIV (PLWH) and evaluate its effect on smoking cessation. Mobile health (mHealth) technology can be used for achieving health equity in vulnerable groups because it is a widely available and relatively inexpensive tool for health behavior change and can be adapted to meet the needs of its end-users. Therefore, a mHealth intervention such as the Lumme App proposed through this study is timely, relevant, scalable and likely to improve health outcomes in PLWH who smoke.