Accepted for/Published in: JMIR Research Protocols
Date Submitted: Jun 3, 2021
Date Accepted: Jun 16, 2021
Warning: This is an author submission that is not peer-reviewed or edited. Preprints - unless they show as "accepted" - should not be relied on to guide clinical practice or health-related behavior and should not be reported in news media as established information.
mHealth Messaging to Motivate Quitline Use and Quitting (M2Q2): Protocol for a community-based randomized controlled trial in rural Vietnam
ABSTRACT
Background:
Tobacco kills more than eight million people each year, mostly in low- and middle-income countries. In Vietnam, one in every two male adults smokes tobacco. Vietnam has set up telephone Quitline counseling that is available to all smokers, but it is underutilized. We have previously developed an automated and effective motivational text messaging system to support smoking cessation with U.S. smokers.
Objective:
In the current study, we adapt this system for rural Vietnamese smokers to promote cessation of tobacco use, both directly and by increasing use of telephone Quitline counseling services and nicotine replacement therapy. Moreover, we seek to enhance research and health service capacity in Vietnam.
Methods:
We are testing the effectiveness of our culturally adapted motivational text messaging system using a community-based, randomized controlled trial design (N = 600). Participants are randomly allocated to the intervention (regular motivational and assessment text messages) or control condition (assessment text messages only) for a period of six months. Trial recruitment takes place in four communes in Hung Yen province in the Red River Delta region of Vietnam. Recruitment events are advertised to the local community, facilitated by community health workers, and take place in the commune health center. We are assessing the impact of the texting system on six-month self-reported and biochemically verified smoking cessation, as well as smoking self-efficacy, uptake of the Quitline, and use of nicotine replacement therapy. In addition to conducting the trial, the research team also provides ongoing training and consultation to the Quitline during the study period.
Results:
Site preparation, staff training, intervention adaptation, participant recruitment, and baseline data collection have been completed. Follow-up and analysis of these results are in progress.
Conclusions:
This study examines the effectiveness of mHealth interventions for smoking in rural areas in low- and middle-income countries, which can be implemented nationwide if proven effective. In addition, it also facilitates significant collaboration and capacity-building among a variety of international partners, including researchers, policymakers, Quitline counselors, and community health workers. Clinical Trial: NCT03567993 (clinicaltrials.gov)
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