Accepted for/Published in: JMIR Research Protocols
Date Submitted: Mar 20, 2024
Date Accepted: Aug 14, 2024
Chatbot-led support combined with counselor-led support on smoking cessation in China: A study protocol of a pilot randomized controlled trial
ABSTRACT
Background:
China has a large population of smokers, but smoking cessation treatment is not equally accessible or utilized, indicating the need for mobile health (mHealth) approaches to expand cessation support.
Objective:
We aim to assess the feasibility, preliminary effectiveness, and implementation of chatbot-led support combined with counselor-led support for smoking cessation among community smokers in China.
Methods:
This is a two-arm, parallel, assessor-blinded, hybrid type 1 effectiveness-implementation randomized controlled trial. All participants will receive brief face-to-face cessation advice and group cessation support led by a chatbot embedded in WeChat. In addition, participants in the intervention group will receive personalized online counseling from trained counselors. The participants will be followed up at 1, 3 and 6 months after treatment initiation. The primary outcome is feasibility, defined by the percentage of eligible smokers who agree to participate. The implementation process and outcomes are guided by the RE-AIM framework (reach, effectiveness, adoption, implementation, maintenance). The primary effectiveness outcome is bioverified abstinence (exhaled carbon monoxide < 4 parts per million and salivary cotinine < 30 ng/mL) at 6 months. Secondary outcomes include self-reported 7-day point prevalence of abstinence, smoking reduction rate, and quit attempts. We will use an intention-to-treat approach and regression models for primary analyses.
Results:
not applicable
Conclusions:
This study will provide novel insights into the feasibility, effectiveness, and implementation of a chatbot-led intervention for smoking cessation in China. The findings of this study will inform the development and optimization of mHealth interventions for smoking cessation in China and other low- and middle-income countries. Clinical Trial: ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT05777005
Citation
Request queued. Please wait while the file is being generated. It may take some time.
Copyright
© The authors. All rights reserved. This is a privileged document currently under peer-review/community review (or an accepted/rejected manuscript). Authors have provided JMIR Publications with an exclusive license to publish this preprint on it's website for review and ahead-of-print citation purposes only. While the final peer-reviewed paper may be licensed under a cc-by license on publication, at this stage authors and publisher expressively prohibit redistribution of this draft paper other than for review purposes.