Smoking Cessation in Cancer Patients

Summary

Background: Smoking cessation can largely improve cancer prognosis and quality of life among cancer patients. However, few patients are aware of the importance to quit at the stage, or they have difficulties to quit by self.

Aim: to examine the effectiveness of a smoking cessation intervention using a risk communication approach

Design: A randomized controlled trial

Setting: Outpatient clinics of the Clinical Oncology Departments of five major hospitals in different regions of Hong Kong

Subject: Smokers who attend medical follow-up visits at outpatient clinics of the Clinical Oncology Departments of five major hospitals in different regions of Hong Kong and who met the inclusion criteria were invited to participate.

Intervention: At baseline, intervention group receives:

1. a face-to-face individualized brief advice based on risk communication for 15-30 minutes from the nurse counselors;
2. examination of exhale CO level; and
3. a generic standard self-help smoking cessation booklet. They will receive a booster intervention at 1 week. Control group will receive standard care and a generic self-help smoking cessation booklet.

Outcome: Primary outcome is the self-reported 7-day point prevalence quit rate at 6-month follow up. Secondary outcomes include:

1. self-reported 7-day point-prevalence smoking abstinence at 12-month follow-up;
2. biochemically validated quit rate at 6-month follow-up; and
3. percentage of patients reduced smoking by at least 50% at 6- and 12-month follow-up compared to baseline.

Significance: This study develops and validates practical smoking cessation interventions targeted to cancer patients to improve their cancer prognosis and in long-term.

Conditions

• Cancer
• Smoking Cessation

Interventions

BEHAVIORAL

Counseling group

Subjects will receive brief advice based on risk communication by a nurse counselor. The brief advice will be based on a specifically-designed risk communication leaflet that warns about the risks of continued smoking for subjects' cancer treatment and prognosis. Subjects will receive a booster intervention via telephone at 1 week to assess the progress of and barriers to the subjects' action plans and identifying individual difficulties and facilitators towards quitting. They also receive a generic standard self-help smoking cessation booklet.

BEHAVIORAL

General supporting

Subjects in this group will receive a generic self-help smoking cessation booklet and standard care without risk communication. They will have the same follow-up sections as the intervention group to receive diseases support.

Sponsors & Collaborators

• Food and Health Bureau, Hong Kong

  collaborator OTHER_GOV

• Queen Mary Hospital, Hong Kong

  collaborator OTHER

• Tuen Mun Hospital

  collaborator OTHER_GOV

• Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Hong Kong

  collaborator OTHER

• Princess Margaret Hospital, Hong Kong

  collaborator OTHER_GOV

• Pamela Youde Nethersole Eastern Hospital

  collaborator OTHER

• The University of Hong Kong

  lead OTHER

Principal Investigators

• Sophia SC Chan, PhD, MPH · The University of Hong Kong

Study Design

Allocation

RANDOMIZED

Purpose

TREATMENT

Masking

SINGLE

Model

PARALLEL

Eligibility

Min Age

18 Years

Sex

ALL

Healthy Volunteers

No

Timeline & Regulatory

Start

2012-09-30

Primary Completion

2015-03-31

Completion

2016-03-31

Countries

• China

Study Locations