Optimizing Hookah Tobacco Public Education Messages to Reduce Young Adult Use

Georgetown University

Status: Completed

Conditions: Hookah Tobacco Smoking

Treatments: Behavioral: Hookah tobacco messages

Study type: Interventional

Funder types: Other; NIH

Identifiers

NCT04252014

STUDY00000277

R01CA229082 (U.S. NIH Grant/Contract)

Details and patient eligibility

About

This is a 2-arm randomized controlled trial to test the effects of hookah tobacco public education messages among young adults who are susceptible non-users of hookah tobacco and those who are current hookah tobacco users. The primary outcomes are hookah tobacco use behavior (initiation among baseline susceptible non-users, frequency of use and cessation among baseline current users) at 6-month follow-up. Secondary outcomes are curiosity to use hookah tobacco (susceptible non-users) and motivation to quit using hookah tobacco (current hookah users) measured at 6-month follow-up. These outcomes will also be measured at 2- and 4-month follow-up time points.

Full description

This is a 2-arm randomized controlled trial to test the effects of hookah tobacco public education messages among young adults who are susceptible non-users of hookah tobacco and current hookah tobacco users. Primary outcomes of hookah use behavior will be measured at the 6-month follow-up assessment. Secondary outcomes include curiosity to use hookah tobacco among susceptible non-users and motivation to quit using hookah tobacco among current users. All outcomes are also assessed at 2- and 4-month follow-up time points. All trial participants will be recruited from a US national consumer research panel. Eligible participants will be 1) young adults ages 18 to 30 (inclusive); 2) who have never used hookah tobacco but are deemed susceptible or report hookah tobacco use at least once within the past month; and 3) are enrolled members of the partnering consumer research panel. Panel members will be contacted via email with a brief description of the study and a link to an eligibility screener and online informed consent form. Eligible participants will complete a secure online baseline assessment of demographic characteristics, tobacco use history, and measures of hookah tobacco use behavior, beliefs, attitudes, and perceptions. After completing a baseline, participants will be randomly assigned in approximately equal numbers to one of two arms: 1) hookah tobacco messaging arm; 2) control arm. Through 4 brief study communications delivered approximately weekly, participants will receive study messages to which they are randomized and will complete brief self-report measures online on their responses to the messages. For the hookah tobacco messaging arm, communications will consist of study messages conveying risks of hookah tobacco use with random assignment of the order of messages with each exposure. In response to each message, participants will complete measures of message response and hookah-related beliefs, attitudes, and perceptions. Participants in the control condition will receive study communications with brief messages about health behaviors unrelated to tobacco (e.g., sun protection) and will complete the same measures. Hookah tobacco use behaviors, intentions and curiosity to use hookah tobacco (non-users), motivation to quit (current users), and hypothesized mediators will be assessed 2-, 4-, and 6-months after the message exposure period with the primary outcomes captured at 6-month follow-up.

Enrollment: 830 patients

Sex: All

Ages: 18 to 30 years old

Volunteers: No Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion criteria

• Age between 18 to 30
• Smoked hookah tobacco within the past 30 days, OR never smoked hookah tobacco and deemed susceptible to using hookah tobacco based on answers to screening questions
• Member of partnering consumer research panel conducting the study

Exclusion criteria

• Age less than 18 or greater than 30
• Has not smoked hookah tobacco in the past 30 days OR has never smoked hookah tobacco and is not susceptible
• Not a member of partnering consumer research panel conducting the study

Trial design

Primary purpose: Prevention

Allocation: Randomized

Interventional model: Parallel Assignment

Masking: None (Open label)

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830 participants in 2 patient groups

Non-Tobacco Messages

No Intervention group

Description:

Participants in the control group will receive messages about health topics unrelated to tobacco use (e.g., sun safety). Messages will be delivered online through 4 brief study communications.

Hookah Tobacco Messages

Experimental group

Description:

Participants in the hookah tobacco messaging group will receive hookah tobacco public education messages delivered online through 4 brief study communications. Messages will communicate about the risks of hookah tobacco use in the following theme areas: 1) Health Harms; 2) Addictiveness; 3) Social Use; 4) Flavorings. The order of message themes delivered in each study communication will be randomized.

Treatment:

Behavioral: Hookah tobacco messages