Anti-smoking Messages for Smoking Cessation

Recruiting at 1 trial location

Overseen By Di Pei, Ph.D.

Age: 18 - 65

Sex: Any

Trial Phase: Academic

Sponsor: Georgia State University

No Placebo Group All trial participants will receive the active study treatment (no placebo)

Compensation: Varies

Number of Visits: 2

1500 Participants Needed

Trial Summary

Will I have to stop taking my current medications?

The trial information does not specify whether you need to stop taking your current medications.

What data supports the effectiveness of the treatment Anti-smoking Messages for smoking cessation?

Research shows that smoking cessation leads to a rapid decline in heart-related diseases and a slower decline in lung cancer. Physicians delivering consistent quit smoking messages can achieve a 15% to 25% success rate in helping patients quit smoking. ^{1 2 3 4 5}

Is there any safety data available for Anti-smoking Messages used in clinical trials?

The available research articles do not provide specific safety data for Anti-smoking Messages used in clinical trials. ^{6 7 8 9 10}

How do anti-smoking messages differ from other smoking cessation treatments?

Anti-smoking messages are unique because they can be tailored to an individual's readiness to quit and use visual or emotional content to engage smokers, especially those who are older or have a lower level of education. Unlike traditional treatments like nicotine replacement therapy, these messages focus on psychological and emotional aspects to motivate quitting. ^{11 12 13 14 15}

What is the purpose of this trial?

Young adults are particularly vulnerable to psychological distress during the transition from adolescence to adulthood, making them more susceptible to developing persistent substance use. The tobacco industry capitalizes on this vulnerability by using marketing tactics to promote tobacco initiation and facilitate the progression from experimental tobacco use to long-term use. In China, where the average age of starting daily smoking is 21.1 years old, the number of current young adult smokers exceeds 29 million. It is crucial to develop effective communication messages to counter the tobacco industry's marketing strategies and protect the health of young adults in China. This project aims to test the effects of different anti-smoking message themes among Chinese young adults. In this online randomized clinical trial, participants will be randomly assigned to one of five antismoking message conditions. The investigators will compare the effects of these themes with each other and with the control condition.

Eligibility Criteria

This trial is for Chinese young adults who are either smokers or non-smokers. It aims to find effective ways to communicate anti-smoking messages, considering the high number of young adult smokers in China and their susceptibility to tobacco industry marketing.

Inclusion Criteria

Can read, speak, and understand Mandarin Chinese

Current residency in China

Nonsmokers - having not smoked 100 cigarettes in a lifetime and do not currently smoke cigarettes

Exclusion Criteria

Not applicable.

Timeline

Screening

Participants are screened for eligibility to participate in the trial

1 week

Online consent form

Session 1

Participants complete a 20-minute survey assessing demographics and are exposed to anti-smoking messages

1 week

1 online session

Session 2

Two weeks after session 1, participants complete a 5-minute survey to measure recall of messages and smoking behaviors

2 weeks

1 online session

Follow-up

Participants are monitored for changes in smoking behavior and intention to use tobacco

2 weeks

Treatment Details

Interventions

• Anti-smoking Messages

Trial Overview The study tests different themes of anti-smoking messages: health effects, secondhand smoke, mental health concerns, tobacco industry manipulation, and social acceptability. Participants will be randomly assigned to one of these message conditions or a control group without any specific messaging.

Participant Groups

Group I: Tobacco industry manipulation Experimental Treatment 1 Intervention

Participants will receive messages with information about how the tobacco industry uses targeted marketing and manipulative tactics aimed at youth and young adults.

Group II: Social acceptability Experimental Treatment 1 Intervention

Participants will receive messages that portray smoking as socially unacceptable in China.

Group III: Secondhand smoke Experimental Treatment 1 Intervention

Participants will receive messages with information about secondhand smoke exposure.

Group IV: Mental Health Experimental Treatment 1 Intervention

Participants will receive messages with information about the effects of smoking on mental health.

Group V: Health effects Experimental Treatment 1 Intervention

Participants will receive messages with information about smoking-related diseases.

Group VI: Control Experimental Treatment 1 Intervention

Participants will receive messages about bottled water which should have no impact on the outcomes of interest.

Who Is Running the Clinical Trial?

Georgia State University

Lead Sponsor

Trials

71

Recruited

33,600+

Findings from Research

A new standardized strategy for reporting adverse events (AEs) and serious adverse events (SAEs) in substance use disorder (SUD) clinical trials was developed, which aims to reduce the reporting burden while maintaining safety monitoring.

In a review of 17 SUD trials involving 6737 participants, the new strategy showed a significant reduction in irrelevant safety event reporting, leading to a more consistent safety assessment system tailored to the risks associated with specific trial interventions.

NCBI (Pubmed)

pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

Strategies for safety reporting in substance abuse trials. Lindblad, R., Campanella, M., Styers, D., et al.[2013]

Over a 20-year period, 1520 significant adverse drug event (ADE) case reports were analyzed, revealing that while key patient and drug variables were often reported, causality assessments were rarely included, with less than 1% of reports providing an objective evaluation.

The study suggests that medical journals should implement stricter guidelines for publishing ADE reports, including mandatory objective assessments of causality to enhance the reliability and usefulness of the information provided.

NCBI (Pubmed)

pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

The quality of published adverse drug event reports. Kelly, WN.[2022]

The Safety Agenda Mobile App (SAMA) was developed to assist health managers in overseeing patient safety responsibilities, featuring 37 predefined tasks that can be customized and shared with their teams.

In a trial with 74 health managers, 86% provided positive feedback on SAMA's utility, and the app has been downloaded by 238 users, earning the AppSaludable Quality Seal for its quality and effectiveness in promoting patient safety awareness.

NCBI (Pubmed)

pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

Design and Testing of the Safety Agenda Mobile App for Managing Health Care Managers' Patient Safety Responsibilities. Mira, JJ., Carrillo, I., Fernandez, C., et al.[2021]

The SMART Safety dataset is the largest collection of empirical data on adverse events in healthcare, comprising 151 systematic reviews and 629 meta-analyses, which enhances the understanding of safety outcomes in randomized controlled trials.

This dataset, which includes over 2,300 trials and 362 harm outcomes, has been rigorously validated to ensure high data quality, providing a valuable resource for addressing rare adverse events and biases in evidence synthesis.

NCBI (Pubmed)

pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

The SMART Safety: An empirical dataset for evidence synthesis of adverse events. Fan, S., Yu, T., Yang, X., et al.[2023]

In a randomized controlled trial involving 2,099 smokers, video computer tailoring significantly increased 7-day point prevalence abstinence compared to a control group, with an odds ratio of 1.45, indicating its effectiveness in promoting smoking cessation.

Video computer tailoring was particularly beneficial for smokers with a low readiness to quit, achieving a remarkable odds ratio of 5.13 for prolonged abstinence, suggesting that personalized video messages can effectively motivate smokers who are less prepared to quit.

NCBI (Pubmed)

pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

Comparison of text and video computer-tailored interventions for smoking cessation: randomized controlled trial. Stanczyk, N., Bolman, C., van Adrichem, M., et al.[2022]

Exposure to emotional and graphic antismoking advertisements significantly increases the likelihood of quit attempts among adult smokers, as shown in a study of 8,780 smokers in New York State from 2003 to 2010.

Advertisements that do not evoke strong negative emotions or use graphic images do not have any effect on smokers' attempts to quit, highlighting the importance of impactful messaging in antismoking campaigns.

NCBI (Pubmed)

pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

Promotion of smoking cessation with emotional and/or graphic antismoking advertising. Farrelly, MC., Duke, JC., Davis, KC., et al.[2022]

References

1. United States pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

Physician-delivered smoking intervention. [2007]

2. Switzerland pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

[Smoking cessation: importance for the patient and role of the practitioner]. [2007]

3. Canada pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

Development of an interactive, Web-delivered system to increase provider-patient engagement in smoking cessation. [2022]

4. United States pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

Outcomes of bupropion therapy for smoking cessation during routine clinical use. [2013]

5. France pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

[Factors predictive of good motivation to quit smoking among Moroccan smokers attending a lung disease outpatient clinic in 2008]. [2022]

6. England pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

Strategies for safety reporting in substance abuse trials. [2013]

7. Spain pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

[Adverse events self-declaration system and influenza vaccination coverage of healthcare workers in a tertiary hospital]. [2018]

8. United States pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

The quality of published adverse drug event reports. [2022]

9. Canada pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

Design and Testing of the Safety Agenda Mobile App for Managing Health Care Managers' Patient Safety Responsibilities. [2021]

10. Netherlands pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

The SMART Safety: An empirical dataset for evidence synthesis of adverse events. [2023]

11. Canada pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

Comparison of text and video computer-tailored interventions for smoking cessation: randomized controlled trial. [2022]

12. England pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

Impact of a negative emotional antitobacco mass media campaign on French smokers: a longitudinal study. [2019]

13. United States pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

Pediatrician Delivered Smoking Cessation Messages for Parents: A Latent Class Approach to Behavioral Phenotyping. [2022]

14. Netherlands pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

Promotion of smoking cessation with emotional and/or graphic antismoking advertising. [2022]

15. Greece pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

Positive and instructive anti-smoking messages speak to older smokers: a focus group study. [2020]