Online smoking cessation program for Korean Americans: Randomized trial to test effects of incentives for program completion and interim surveys

• An Internet-based smoking cessation program for Korean Americans was evaluated.
• A randomized trial was conducted to assess the effects of high vs. low reinforcement.
• High reinforcement increased program completion.
• Smoking cessation was greater among program completers.
• Smoking cessation was similar across high- and low-reinforcement conditions.

IntroductionSmoking is prevalent among Korean American men. Quitting is Winning, an Internet-based, cognitive-behavioral smoking cessation program, was developed using community-based participatory research principles.MethodsA randomized controlled trial was used to evaluate whether participants were more likely to complete the program and quit smoking at 6-months of follow-up with additional reinforcement. The main outcomes were the proportion of participants who completed the online program and the proportion who quit smoking for at least 30 days, 26 weeks after enrollment, among those randomized into the high-reinforcement (HR) condition compared with those in the low-reinforcement (LR) condition.ResultsThe study achieved a final enrollment of 403 participants including 56 women. Program completion was greater for the HR as compared to the LR condition (17% vs. 10%, p = .035). There was no significant difference in 30-day smoking cessation (intent-to-treat [ITT]) between the HR and LR conditions (9% vs. 8%, ns). Smoking cessation was greater among program completers as compared to those who did not complete the program (28% vs. 5%, p < .001).ConclusionsThe addition of interim surveys and financial incentives for interim survey completion and program completion significantly increased the likelihood of program completion. Moreover, program completers were significantly more likely to quit smoking. Although smoking cessation rates did not significantly differ between the HR and LR conditions, the results suggest that future studies should explore the efficacy of larger financial incentives for program completion (Clinical Trial #NCT02584127).