Building Capacity and Promoting Smoking Cessation in the Community Via "Quit to Win" Contest 2024: a Randomised Controlled Trial of a Brief Behavioural Economic Intervention
Trial Snapshot
- Phase
- Not Applicable
- Status
- Recruiting
- Sponsor
- The University of Hong Kong
- Enrollment
- 1,017
- Locations
- 1
- Primary Endpoint
- Biochemically validated tobacco abstinence
Study Overview
Brief Summary
The goal of this clinical trial is to test the effectiveness of brief behavioural economic intervention in promoting smoking cessation among smokers in the community.
Detailed Description
Smoking cessation services are free and effective but underused in Hong Kong. Active referral to smoking cessation services has consistently been found effective in promoting service use and successful quitting as a stand-alone strategy or when combined with other interventions. Participants who received active referral are introduced about the cessation services in Hong Kong and offered connection to the services of their choices. Contacts of participants who agreed to be referred are transferred to the selected cessation providers, who will subsequently contact the participants for further treatment.
The current active referral intervention uses an opt-in approach, where participants are required to actively choose to be connected to the services. By leveraging behavioural economic principles, a simple yet promising strategy to strengthen the active referral intervention is to utilize an "opt-out" approach, where participants are automatically referred to the service unless they actively decline the referral. By making referral to smoking cessation services as the default choice, the investigators aim to increase the uptake of these services and thus improve smoking cessation outcomes. Additionally, mobile messaging informed by behavioural economics principles can serve as nudges to prompt smokers to initiate quitting and utilise cessation services.
The clinical trial aims to test the effectiveness of opt-out referral, with or without behavioural economic-based mobile messaging, compared to opt-in referral, in promoting smoking cessation. The trial will be nested within the 15th "Quit to Win" Smoke-free Community Campaign organised by the Hong Kong Council on Smoking and Health.
Study Design
- Study Type
- Interventional
- Allocation
- Randomized
- Intervention Model
- Parallel
- Primary Purpose
- Treatment
- Masking
- None
Eligibility Criteria
- Ages
- 18 Years to — (Adult, Older Adult)
- Sex
- All
- Accepts Healthy Volunteers
- Yes
Inclusion Criteria
- •Hong Kong residents aged 18 years or above
- •Smoke cigarette or heated tobacco product or e-cigarette daily in the past 3 months
- •Exhaled carbon monoxide level ≥4 parts per million or a positive salivary cotinine test
- •Able to communicate in and read Chinese
- •Own a smartphone with a mobile instant messaging app installed
Exclusion Criteria
- •Participating in another smoking cessation programme or using any smoking cessation drug or nicotine replacement therapy
Arms & Interventions
Opt-out+ group
Brief cessation advice + Opt-out active referral + behavioural economics mobile messaging
Intervention: Behavioral economic mobile messaging (Behavioral)
Opt-out+ group
Brief cessation advice + Opt-out active referral + behavioural economics mobile messaging
Intervention: Brief cessation advice (Behavioral)
Opt-out+ group
Brief cessation advice + Opt-out active referral + behavioural economics mobile messaging
Intervention: Opt-out active referral (Behavioral)
Opt-out group
Brief cessation advice + Opt-out active referral
Intervention: Brief cessation advice (Behavioral)
Opt-out group
Brief cessation advice + Opt-out active referral
Intervention: Opt-out active referral (Behavioral)
Opt-in group
Brief cessation advice + Opt-in active referral
Intervention: Brief cessation advice (Behavioral)
Opt-in group
Brief cessation advice + Opt-in active referral
Intervention: Opt-in active referral (Behavioral)
Outcomes
Primary Outcomes
Biochemically validated tobacco abstinence
Time Frame: 6 months after randomisation
Verified by an exhaled carbon monoxide level of \<4 parts per million and a negative salivary cotinine test
Secondary Outcomes
- Biochemically validated tobacco abstinence(3 months after randomisation)
- Self-reported use of smoking cessation service(6 months after randomisation)
- Self-reported 24-hour quit attempt(6 months after randomisation)
- Self-reported 7-day point-prevalence tobacco abstinence(6 months after randomisation)
- Self-reported 7-day point-prevalence tobacco abstinence(3 months after randomisation)
- Self-reported 24-hour quit attempt(3 months after randomisation)
- Self-reported use of smoking cessation service(3 months after randomisation)
Investigators
Tzu Tsun Luk
Research Assistant Professor
The University of Hong Kong