Chewing Gum for Smoking Cessation

The University of Hong Kong (HKU)

Status: Completed

Conditions: Smoking Cessation

Treatments: Behavioral: Chewing gum usage leaflet; Behavioral: Chewing gum; Behavioral: Very brief smoking cessation advice; Behavioral: 2-week reminder message

Study type: Interventional

Funder types: Other

Identifiers

NCT06801860

Chew-to-Quit

Details and patient eligibility

About

The goal of this trial is to assess the feasibility, acceptability, and preliminary effectiveness of chewing gum to reduce cigarette consumption and promote smoking cessation. The main questions it aims to answer are: Do participants in the intervention group report a higher reduction in cigarette consumption, improved smoking cessation outcomes, and healthier oral health than the control group?

Researchers will compare chewing gum intervention to unassisted quitting to see if chewing gum works to cigarette reduction and smoking cessation.

Participants will:

1. Receive very brief smoking cessation advice and booklet at baseline.
2. Take chewing gum or unassisted quitting for 1 week.

Enrollment: 80 patients

Sex: All

Ages: 18+ years old

Volunteers: No Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion criteria

1. Residents of Hong Kong aged 18 or above
2. Smoking at least 1 cigarette per day over the past 3 months
3. Have the habit of chewing gum or are willing to use chewing gum
4. Participants who can communicate in Cantonese (including reading Chinese)
5. Expressing an intention to quit or reduce smoking
6. Capable of using instant messaging tools (e.g., WhatsApp, WeChat) for communication

Exclusion criteria

1. Having communication barriers (either physical or cognitive)
2. Currently participating in other smoking cessation programs or services

Trial design

Primary purpose: Supportive Care

Allocation: Randomized

Interventional model: Parallel Assignment

Masking: Single Blind

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80 participants in 2 patient groups

Chewing gum

Experimental group

Description:

Participants in the intervention group will receive 1-2 packs of chewing gum over a 1-week intervention period. They will also receive a leaflet of usage tips for chewing gum, including 1) the potential benefits of chewing gum, 2) suitable usage time and dosage, and 3) the proper disposal of used gum.Additionally, participants in the intervention group will receive 2-week reminder message to boost gum usage.

Treatment:

Behavioral: 2-week reminder message

Behavioral: Very brief smoking cessation advice

Behavioral: Chewing gum

Behavioral: Chewing gum usage leaflet

Unassisted quitting

Active Comparator group

Description:

Participants in the unassisted quitting group (control group) will receive very brief smoking cessation advice (30 seconds) and a smoking cessation information booklet at baseline.

Treatment:

Behavioral: Very brief smoking cessation advice