Abbey Masonbrink, MD, MPH, was recently awarded a 5-year, $947,700 Mentored Career Development (K23) Award from the National Institutes of Health (National Institute on Drug Abuse) for the project “Development and Implementation of a Tobacco and ENDS Use Intervention for Adolescents and Young Adults in the Pediatric Hospital.”

There are more than 1.5 million adolescent hospitalizations annually and many of these patients are at increased risk for tobacco use and tobacco-related poor health outcomes due to underlying comorbidities (e.g., mental health disorders, substance use disorders, asthma). Although evidence supports treatment of tobacco use during an adult hospitalization, no interventions have been developed or tested in the pediatric hospital setting.

With the support of this NIH funded K23 grant, Dr. Masonbrink’s research team will draw on promising theoretically-based evidence from the primary care and hospital settings to develop, iteratively refine and assess implementation of a novel tobacco and electronic nicotine delivery systems (ENDS) use intervention for hospitalized adolescents and young adults (AYAs, 14-21 years).

During Aim 1 they will develop the intervention to treat tobacco and ENDS use in hospitalized AYAs utilizing the 5 A’s Framework (Ask, Advise, Assess, Assist, Arrange) with motivational interviewing, pharmacotherapy and computerized decision support tools. The intervention will be administered by a health educator specifically trained in ENDS and tobacco cessation treatment. The team will iteratively refine the intervention based on key stakeholder feedback, including AYAs, parents/guardians and hospital providers.

During Aim 2 they will conduct a randomized controlled pilot study (n=144) with three-month follow up to evaluate preliminary efficacy as well as implementation outcomes (i.e., acceptability, feasibility, fidelity).

“Our long-term goal is to reduce tobacco and ENDS use among adolescents and young adults in the pediatric hospital and ultimately decrease risk for numerous adverse health outcomes,” said Dr. Masonbrink

Co-Investigators on the project include Delwyn Catley, PhD (primary mentor, Children’s Mercy), Melissa Miller, MD (co-mentor, Children’s Mercy), Kimber Richter, PhD, MPH (co-mentor, University of Kansas Medical Center), Karen Wilson, MD, MPH (co-mentor, Mount Sinai), and Troy Richardson, PhD (Children’s Hospital Associations).

This NIH funding goes through April 30, 2027.