Brief Behavioural Economic Intervention for Smoking Cessation (QTW2024)

The University of Hong Kong (HKU)

Status: Enrolling

Conditions: Tobacco Smoking

Treatments: Behavioral: Opt-out active referral; Behavioral: Opt-in active referral; Behavioral: Behavioral economic mobile messaging; Behavioral: Brief cessation advice

Study type: Interventional

Funder types: Other

Identifiers

NCT06451081

QTW2024

Details and patient eligibility

About

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.

Full 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.

Enrollment: 1,017 estimated patients

Sex: All

Ages: 18+ years old

Volunteers: Accepts Healthy Volunteers

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

Trial design

Primary purpose: Treatment

Allocation: Randomized

Interventional model: Parallel Assignment

Masking: None (Open label)

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1,017 participants in 3 patient groups

Opt-out+ group

Experimental group

Description:

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

Treatment:

Behavioral: Brief cessation advice

Behavioral: Behavioral economic mobile messaging

Behavioral: Opt-out active referral

Opt-out group

Experimental group

Description:

Brief cessation advice + Opt-out active referral

Treatment:

Behavioral: Brief cessation advice

Behavioral: Opt-out active referral

Opt-in group

Active Comparator group

Description:

Brief cessation advice + Opt-in active referral

Treatment:

Behavioral: Brief cessation advice

Behavioral: Opt-in active referral