A Combined Cessation Intervention of Brief Advice, Nicotine Replacement Therapy Sampling and Active Referral (BANSAR) for Smoking Fathers: a Multicenter, Single-blinded, Pragmatic Randomised Controlled Trial

Secondhand smoke (SHS) exposure cause substantial harms to pregnant women, foeti and infants. Smoking cessation (SC) interventions for smoking expectant fathers are needed particularly in China where male smoking predominates and many pregnant women (about 30% in Hong Kong) were exposed to SHS. Prenatal period presents a valuable teachable moment to engage smoking expectant father in tobacco dependence treatment. However, most smoking cessation trials were conducted in the Western countries on smoking pregnant women or smoking couples. Very few trials were designed to target fathers quitting.

Given the busy clinical settings in Hong Kong Public Hospitals, evidence-based, low-cost and sustainable brief cessation intervention applicable in real-world practice is imperative. Informed by previous research, a combined cessation intervention of brief advice, nicotine replacement therapy sampling and active referral (BANSAR) has been developed for smoking expectant father. This multicentre, pragmatic, assessor-blinded, individually-randomized controlled trial aims to evaluate BANSAR for smoking cessation outcomes in smoking expectant father visiting prenatal clinics in Hong Kong