Using ICT to Deliver Brief Motivational Interviewing to Promote Smoking Cessation Among Smokers With Chronic Diseases

Smoking Cessation Clinical Trial

Official title:

Using Information Communication Technology (Whatsapp/WeChat) to Deliver Brief Motivational Interviewing (i-BMI) to Promote Smoking Cessation Among Smokers With Chronic Diseases

Clinical Trial Details — Status: Recruiting

Administrative data

• NCT number: NCT03921606
• Other study ID #: NTWCREC19001
• Status: Recruiting
• Phase: N/A
• Start date: April 10, 2019
• Est. completion date: March 1, 2021

Study information

• Verified date: November 2020
• Source: The University of Hong Kong
• Contact: Ho Cheung William Li, PhD
• Phone: +85239176634
• Email: william3[@]hku.hk
• Is FDA regulated: No
• Study type: Interventional

Clinical Trial Summary

This study aims to evaluate the effectiveness of a general health promotion (GHP) approach using information communication technology (ICT) to deliver a brief motivational interviewing (MI) to motivate smokers with chronic diseases to quit smoking. Subjects in the intervention group will receive a GHP approach using ICT (e.g., WhatsApp/WeChat) to deliver brief MI. Subjects in the control group will receive an individual face-to-face generic health advice plus a self-help booklet on smoking cessation at the time of recruitment.

Description:

Smoking exerts harmful effects on nearly every organ of the body and causes 7 million deaths worldwide each year. In Hong Kong, despite a decrease in the prevalence of daily cigarette smoking from 23.3% in 1982 to 10.0% in 2017, there are still 615,000 daily smokers. The evidence has shown that continued smoking in patients with chronic diseases can reduce the efficacy of medical treatments and increase the risk of treatment-related side effects. Nevertheless, many smokers with chronic diseases have a long smoking history, a strong nicotine dependency, and have not attempted or have no intention to quit. It is essential to develop and evaluate a more innovative and effective intervention to enhance the acceptability of smoking cessation for smokers with chronic diseases. The proposed intervention will aim to facilitate the movement through five stages of change (pre-contemplation, contemplation, preparation, action and maintenance)15 via the (i) foot-in-the-door technique and (ii) a brief MI. The World Health Organization defines medical and public health practice supported by mobile devices as mobile health, a new strategy to promote health.21 Instant messaging, such as WhatsApp/WeChat delivered by mobile devices, is widely used for health promotion and treatment compliance.22 One advantage of using WhatsApp/WeChat is that it can offer quick, real-time interactions and continuing professional advice and support for subjects to manage their health-related lifestyle practices. Most importantly, WhatsApp/WeChat is more flexible, efficient and time-saving compared to face-to-face meetings to deliver a brief MI as face-to-face meetings would require the subjects to return several times for interventions. A systematic review of the use of mobile phone-based interventions for smoking cessation showed that smokers who received instant messages via mobile phones were more likely to abstain from smoking compared to those who used traditional face-to-face cessation services.23 A recent study conducted by our team in Hong Kong also showed that the use of WhatsApp for instant messaging was more effective in smoking relapse prevention for recent quitters.24 However, we found no reports or proposals based on the above conceptual framework and strategies in which ICTs were used with smokers who had no intention to quit.

Recruitment information / eligibility

• Status: Recruiting
• Enrollment: 720
• Est. completion date: March 1, 2021
• Est. primary completion date: March 1, 2021
• Accepts healthy volunteers: No
• Gender: All
• Age group: 18 Years to 80 Years

Eligibility

Inclusion Criteria:

• aged 18 years or above,
• able to speak Cantonese and read Chinese
• do not intend to quit smoking (pre-contemplation stage), but are willing to promote their health
• use a smartphone and can use an instant messaging tool (e.g., WhatsApp/WeChat)
• willing to receive health promotion advice and interact with our interventionist via WhatsApp/WeChat on a smartphone throughout the study period

Exclusion Criteria:

• inability to give informed consent or participate in our intervention due to impaired mental status, cognitive impairment or communication barriers
• participate in another smoking cessation programme or service

Related Conditions & MeSH terms

• Chronic Disease
• Smoking Cessation

Intervention

Behavioral:
• Motivational Interviewing (i-BMI)
A brief MI via WhatsApp/WeChat
• Individual face-to-face generic health advice
Individual face-to-face generic health advice (about 5 minutes) on a health-related lifestyle practice such as eating more vegetables and fruits, eating less high salt, fat or sugar foods, consuming less sugary drinks, engaging in more exercise of any kind or intensity, reducing alcohol consumption or reducing weight (if overweight or obese). A self-help booklet on smoking cessation published by the Hong Kong Council on Smoking and Health with Hotline will be also provided in the SOPCs.

Locations

Country	Name	City	State
Hong Kong	The University of Hong Kong	Hong Kong

Sponsors (1)

Lead Sponsor	Collaborator
The University of Hong Kong

Country where clinical trial is conducted

Hong Kong, 

Outcome

Type	Measure	Description	Time frame	Safety issue
Primary	Biochemically validated smoking abstinence at 6 months	The biochemically validated smoking abstinence will be confirmed by a saliva cotinine level of less than 115 ng/ml in parallel test and a carbon monoxide level in expired air of less than 9 parts per million (ppm)	6-month follow-up
Secondary	biochemically validated smoking abstinence at 12 months	The biochemically validated smoking abstinence will be confirmed by a saliva cotinine level of less than 115 ng/ml in parallel test and a carbon monoxide level in expired air of less than 9 parts per million (ppm)	12-month follow-up
Secondary	Self-reported 7-day point prevalence of smoking abstinence at 6 and 12 months	Structured questionnaires will be developed by adopting or modifying international and/or locally validated instruments.	6- and 12-month follow-up
Secondary	Any behavioural change reported by the subjects at 3, 6 and 12 months	EQ-5D five-level questionnaire (EQ-5D-5L) will be administered at 3, 6, and 12 months. Chinese-specific EQ-5D-5L value set will enable the estimation of EQ-5D-5L health utility scores applicable for Chinese population.	3-, 6- and 12-month follow-ups