Brief Behavioural Economic Intervention for Smoking Cessation

NCT ID: NCT06451081

Last Updated: 2024-07-19

Basic Information

• Recruitment Status: RECRUITING
• Clinical Phase: NA
• Total Enrollment: 1017 participants
• Study Classification: INTERVENTIONAL
• Study Start Date: 2024-06-15
• Study Completion Date: 2025-05-31

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.

Conditions

Tobacco Smoking

Study Design

• Allocation Method: RANDOMIZED
• Intervention Model: PARALLEL
• Primary Study Purpose: TREATMENT
• Blinding Strategy: NONE

Study Groups

Opt-out+ group

Brief cessation advice + Opt-out active referral + behavioural economics mobile messaging

Group Type: EXPERIMENTAL

Brief cessation advice

Intervention Type: BEHAVIORAL

Participants will receive brief cessation advice following the AWARD (ask, warn, advise, refer, do-it-again) model:

A: Ask about the tobacco use status; W: Warn about the hazards of tobacco use; A: Advise the smokers to quit; R: Refer the smokers to cessation services; D: Do-it-again

Opt-out active referral

Intervention Type: BEHAVIORAL

Participants will be automatically referred to a smoking cessation service upon joining the trial, unless they choose to opt out. Contacts of participants will be delivered to a service provider of their choice or based on their living district and preferred treatment modality

Behavioral economic mobile messaging

Intervention Type: BEHAVIORAL

Participants will receive behavioural economics-informed messages via mobile instant messaging for 3 months

Opt-out group

Brief cessation advice + Opt-out active referral

Group Type: EXPERIMENTAL

Brief cessation advice

Intervention Type: BEHAVIORAL

Participants will receive brief cessation advice following the AWARD (ask, warn, advise, refer, do-it-again) model:

A: Ask about the tobacco use status; W: Warn about the hazards of tobacco use; A: Advise the smokers to quit; R: Refer the smokers to cessation services; D: Do-it-again

Opt-out active referral

Intervention Type: BEHAVIORAL

Participants will be automatically referred to a smoking cessation service upon joining the trial, unless they choose to opt out. Contacts of participants will be delivered to a service provider of their choice or based on their living district and preferred treatment modality

Opt-in group

Brief cessation advice + Opt-in active referral

Group Type: ACTIVE_COMPARATOR

Brief cessation advice

Intervention Type: BEHAVIORAL

Participants will receive brief cessation advice following the AWARD (ask, warn, advise, refer, do-it-again) model:

A: Ask about the tobacco use status; W: Warn about the hazards of tobacco use; A: Advise the smokers to quit; R: Refer the smokers to cessation services; D: Do-it-again

Opt-in active referral

Intervention Type: BEHAVIORAL

Participants will be offered a referral to a smoking cessation service. Contacts of participants who opt-in will be delivered to a service provider of their choice

Interventions

Brief cessation advice

Participants will receive brief cessation advice following the AWARD (ask, warn, advise, refer, do-it-again) model:

A: Ask about the tobacco use status; W: Warn about the hazards of tobacco use; A: Advise the smokers to quit; R: Refer the smokers to cessation services; D: Do-it-again

Intervention Type: BEHAVIORAL

Opt-out active referral

Participants will be automatically referred to a smoking cessation service upon joining the trial, unless they choose to opt out. Contacts of participants will be delivered to a service provider of their choice or based on their living district and preferred treatment modality

Intervention Type: BEHAVIORAL

Behavioral economic mobile messaging

Participants will receive behavioural economics-informed messages via mobile instant messaging for 3 months

Intervention Type: BEHAVIORAL

Opt-in active referral

Participants will be offered a referral to a smoking cessation service. Contacts of participants who opt-in will be delivered to a service provider of their choice

Intervention Type: BEHAVIORAL

Eligibility Criteria

Inclusion Criteria

1. Hong Kong residents aged 18 years or above

2. Smoke cigarette or heated tobacco product or e-cigarette daily in the past 3 months

3. Exhaled carbon monoxide level ≥4 parts per million or a positive salivary cotinine test

4. Able to communicate in and read Chinese

5. 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

• Minimum Eligible Age: 18 Years
• Eligible Sex: ALL
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: Yes

Sponsors

Hong Kong Council on Smoking and Health

OTHER

Sponsor Role: collaborator

The University of Hong Kong

OTHER

Sponsor Role: lead

Responsible Party

Tzu Tsun Luk

Research Assistant Professor

Responsibility Role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR

Principal Investigators

Tzu Tsun Luk, PhD, RN

Role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR

The University of Hong Kong

Locations

Community sites

Hong Kong, , Hong Kong

Site Status: RECRUITING

Countries

Hong Kong

Central Contacts

Tzu Tsun Luk, PhD, RN

Role: CONTACT

luktt@connect.hku.hk

39177574

Facility Contacts

Tzu Tsun Luk

Role: primary

References

Wang MP, Suen YN, Li WH, Lam CO, Wu SY, Kwong AC, Lai VW, Chan SS, Lam TH. Intervention With Brief Cessation Advice Plus Active Referral for Proactively Recruited Community Smokers: A Pragmatic Cluster Randomized Clinical Trial. JAMA Intern Med. 2017 Dec 1;177(12):1790-1797. doi: 10.1001/jamainternmed.2017.5793.

Reference Type: BACKGROUND

PMID: 29059277 (View on PubMed)

Other Identifiers

QTW2024

Identifier Type: -

Identifier Source: org_study_id