NCT03380234

A Cluster-RCT of SHS Among Primary School Students

Reducing Exposure to Tobacco Smoke Among Primary School Students - a Cluster Randomised Controlled Trial

• Status: Completed
• Phase: N/A
• Study type: Interventional
• Enrollment: 3,432 (actual)
• Sponsor: The University of Hong Kong · Academic / Other
• Sex: All
• Age: —
• Healthy volunteers: Not accepted

Summary

This is a school- and family-based prospective trial among Primary/Grade 2-4 (P2-4) students in randomly selected 12 schools in Hong Kong. This study will assess the intervention effects on children's exposure to environmental tobacco smoke (including SHS and THS at home, SHS at home from neighbours and SHS outside home), children's SHS-related knowledge and attitude, intention to smoke, respiratory symptoms, parents' smoking cessation, and family happiness.

Detailed description

Around 12 primary schools in Hong Kong will be randomly selected and recruited and the 3 grades (P2-4) in each of the recruited schools will be randomly allocated to intervention or control arms. After the consenting process and baseline survey, we will conduct a 3-month intervention and then 2-month boosters which include 8 worksheets, around 15 online question quizzes and 30 WhatsApp messages. After 3-month and 6-month follow-up periods, we will assess the differences of children's exposure to environmental tobacco smoke (including SHS and THS at home, SHS at home from neighbours and SHS outside home), children's SHS-related knowledge and attitude, intention to smoke, respiratory symptoms, parents' smoking cessation, and family happiness. According to the results of baseline survey, we will also invite all the students exposed to SHS at home to provide their hair samples before intervention and at the 6th month in order to obtain objective results (hair nicotine measurements). Aims of this study: (1) To reduce children's exposure to environmental tobacco smoke. (2) To reduce objectively measured exposure to tobacco smoke (hair nicotine) among children who are exposed to SHS at home at baseline. (6-month, laboratory test). (3) To promote SHS-related knowledge and attitudes, and avoidance of SHS among children. (4) To reduce children's intention to smoke. (5) To reduce children's respiratory symptoms. (6) To promote smoking cessation (past 7 days) of parents. (child report) (7) To promote children's perception of family happiness.

Conditions

• Secondhand Smoke
• Thirdhand Smoke
• Smoking

Interventions

Type	Name	Description
OTHER	Worksheets	Worksheets will be distributed to students for them and their parents to complete together. During the first 3 months, the teachers will distribute 1 worksheet every two weeks to the intervention grades, and 1 worksheet in the 4th and 5th months as boosters. The worksheets will deliver information about tobacco smoke, SHS and THS, inviting students and their family members to complete other interesting tasks together.
OTHER	Whatsapp messages	A mobile phone number of this study is also provided on the worksheets, through which participants can receive WhatsApp/WeChat/instant messages (1-2 times every week) designed to encourage behavioural change \[15\]. They can then forward selected messages to other members of their household, especially smokers.
OTHER	Online quizzes	At the end of each worksheet, a QR code is inserted. By scanning this code, students or parents will be invited to answer 2-3 simple quizzes which allow us to assess students' knowledge obtained from the intervention materials and their avoidance of environmental tobacco smoke.
OTHER	Leaflet	A leaflet on smoking and SHS published by the Department of Health will be mailed to the control grades.

Timeline

• Start date: 2018-09-20
• Primary completion: 2019-11-30
• Completion: 2019-11-30
• First posted: 2017-12-21
• Last updated: 2020-02-12

Locations

1 site across 1 country: Hong Kong