The Impact of COVID-19 Pandemic on the Smoking Behaviour of Young Smokers and the Youth Quitline Service in Hong Kong

• Conditions: Smoking Cessation
• Interventions: Other: Telephone survey

• Registration Number: NCT04360863
• Lead Sponsor: The University of Hong Kong

Brief Summary

The aims of the present study are:

1. To explore the impact of COVID-19 pandemic on the smoking behavior of youth smokers

2. To explore the impact of COVID-19 pandemic on the Youth Quitline service in Hong Kong

Detailed Description

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has spread rapidly across the globe. According to World Health Organization (WHO), due to the harmful effects on the lungs and the possible viral transmission from fingers to mouth during smoking, tobacco use is considered a major risk factor for developing COVID-19. Both tobacco use and COVID-19 can cause damage to the cardiovascular and respiratory systems. Smokers infected with COVID-19 are at higher risk of developing severe COVID-19 symptoms or death than non-smokers.

The Hong Kong SAR (HKSAR) government has announced different regulations to combat the spread of COVID-19 since late January 2020, which significantly affect the working patterns and everyday lives of people. It remains unknown how smoking habits and smoking cessation services are being affected during the pandemic.

Study Timeline

• Study First Submitted: 2020-04-22
• Study First Submitted QC: 2020-04-22
• Study Start: 2020-04-24
• Study First Posted: 2020-04-24
• Status Verified: 2020-11
• Last Update Submitted: 2020-11-02
• Last Update Posted: 2020-11-04
• Primary Completion: 2021-12-30
• Study Completion: 2021-12-30

Recruitment & Eligibility

• Status: UNKNOWN
• Sex: All
• Target Recruitment: 150

Inclusion Criteria

• Hong Kong resident aged 25 or below
• Able to communicate in Chinese (Cantonese)
• Smoked in the past 30 days

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Exclusion Criteria

• Have difficulty to communicate via telephone

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Study & Design

• Study Type: OBSERVATIONAL
• Study Design: Not specified

Arm && Interventions

Group	Intervention	Description
Youth smokers	Telephone survey	Participants of Youth Quitline

Primary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
Readiness to quit	Baseline	Change in motivation to quit during the pandemic
Knowledge	Baseline	Knowledge regarding the relationship between COVID-19 and smoking
Smoking behaviors	Baseline	Change in smoking behaviors of youth smokers during the pandemic

Trial Locations

Locations (1)

The University of Hong Kong; 🇭🇰 Hong Kong, Hong Kong