Mobile Chat Messaging for Smoking Relapse Prevention

Study Results

Results pending

The study team has not published outcome measurements, participant flow, or safety data for this trial yet. Check back later for updates.

Basic Information

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Recruitment Status

COMPLETED

Clinical Phase

NA

Total Enrollment

590 participants

Study Classification

INTERVENTIONAL

Study Start Date

2023-03-14

Study Completion Date

2025-08-10

Brief Summary

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Most smokers return to smoking (relapse) after making a quit attempt, but evidence of effective intervention to prevent relapse is scarce. Taking advantage of recent advances in mobile technologies, this study aims to evaluate the effectiveness of a mobile chat messaging-based relapse prevention intervention in promoting successful quitting in people who recently quit smoking (recent abstainers) using a randomised controlled trial design.

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Detailed Description

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Most smokers who made quit attempts and achieved short-term abstinence return to smoking (relapse) over time, even when aided by effective smoking cessation treatment. Since relapse mostly occurred in the first 4 weeks of abstinence, relapse prevention in the early phase of abstinence could potentially boost long-term abstinence. Several behavioural interventions for smoking relapse prevention have been proposed and tested in RCTs. Yet, a 2019 Cochrane review did not find traditional approaches, including self-help materials, telephone counselling and group therapy, effective in increasing long-term abstinence at 6 months or longer.

The widespread use of mobile devices has provided a highly accessible and scalable means for novel behavioural interventions for smoking cessation. A formative qualitative study in current smokers conducted by the investigators showed that mobile chat messaging is a feasible and acceptable platform for delivering smoking cessation support. A subsequent cluster randomised controlled trial on 1148 smokers found that mobile chat messaging combined with brief intervention was effective in increasing biochemically validated abstinence at 6 months. Nonetheless, whether mobile chat messaging could prevent relapse in recent abstainers has remained untested.

The investigators did a pilot trial to confirm the feasibility and acceptability of mobile chat messaging for relapse prevention in recent abstainers. This study aims to evaluate the effectiveness of mobile chat messaging relapse prevention intervention in promoting abstinence in recent abstainers.

Conditions

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Smoking Cessation

Study Design

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Allocation Method

RANDOMIZED

Intervention Model

PARALLEL

Primary Study Purpose

TREATMENT

Blinding Strategy

SINGLE

Outcome Assessors

Study Groups

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Mobile chat messaging

Standard smoking cessation treatment + Personalised chat messaging

Group Type EXPERIMENTAL

Standard smoking cessation treatment

Intervention Type BEHAVIORAL

Standard smoking cessation treatment (behavioural and pharmacotherapy) provided by Tung Wah Group of Hospitals Integrated Centre on Smoking Cessation

Personalised chat messaging

Intervention Type BEHAVIORAL

Personalised chat messaging focusing on smoking relapse prevention for 3 months from randomisation. A trained counsellor will interact with a participant individually and provide relapse prevention advice via WhatsApp. The participant can also access a supportive chatbot in WhatsApp, which will provide on-demand smoking relapse prevention support when the counsellor is not available (e.g., during nighttime).

SMS messaging

Standard smoking cessation treatment + Regular SMS text messaging generic information about the harms of smoking and the benefits of quitting

Group Type ACTIVE_COMPARATOR

Standard smoking cessation treatment

Intervention Type BEHAVIORAL

Standard smoking cessation treatment (behavioural and pharmacotherapy) provided by Tung Wah Group of Hospitals Integrated Centre on Smoking Cessation

SMS text messaging

Intervention Type BEHAVIORAL

SMS text messaging on generic information about the harms of smoking and the benefits of quitting for 3 months from randomisation.

Interventions

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Standard smoking cessation treatment

Standard smoking cessation treatment (behavioural and pharmacotherapy) provided by Tung Wah Group of Hospitals Integrated Centre on Smoking Cessation

Intervention Type BEHAVIORAL

Personalised chat messaging

Personalised chat messaging focusing on smoking relapse prevention for 3 months from randomisation. A trained counsellor will interact with a participant individually and provide relapse prevention advice via WhatsApp. The participant can also access a supportive chatbot in WhatsApp, which will provide on-demand smoking relapse prevention support when the counsellor is not available (e.g., during nighttime).

Intervention Type BEHAVIORAL

SMS text messaging

SMS text messaging on generic information about the harms of smoking and the benefits of quitting for 3 months from randomisation.

Intervention Type BEHAVIORAL

Eligibility Criteria

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Inclusion Criteria

* Hong Kong residents aged 18 years or above
* Own a smartphone with WhatsApp installed
* Enrolled in a smoking cessation program under Tung Wah Group of Hospitals Integrated Centre on Smoking Cessation
* Smoked daily before the present quit attempt
* Abstained from smoking for 3 to 30 days