1. Boosting Smoking Cessation Intervention Utilization in Chinese Healthcare Providers: A Randomized Controlled Trial of the 'WeChat WeQuit' Medical Education Program.
- Author
-
Wang Y, Peng P, Wu Z, Liu Y, Wang C, Tang J, and Liao Y
- Abstract
Introduction: In China, standard smoking cessation practices are rarely used by healthcare service providers (HSPs). WeChat, a popular social media app, has been widely used in China., Methods: In this single-blind, randomized trial, undertaken in China with 8-week interventions and follow-up to 34 weeks, 1887 HSPs were randomly selected to the intervention (n=942) or control group (n=945) from Oct 2020 to Oct 2021. The intervention group received regular smoking cessation training program messages from the professional team for 8 weeks and followed for 34 weeks. The control group received thanks messages for 8 weeks, and follow-up to 34 weeks. Both groups received a hard copy of the manual after randomization. The primary outcome measure was the utilization rate of behavioral and pharmacotherapy interventions for smoking patients from 9 to 34 weeks. This trial is registered at ClinicalTrials.gov (number NCT03556774)., Results: HSPs in the intervention group demonstrated a better overall utilization rate of smoking cessation at 20-week follow-up compared to the control group (35.54% vs 31.41%, p=0.036). Additionally, both groups showed a significant increase in the adoption of various components of the 5A's model - including "Assess", "Assist: set a quit date", "Assist: recommend cessation program", "Assist: provide information", "Assist: recommend medication", and "Arrange" - at the 9-week follow-up relative to baseline. Notably, at the 20-week follow-up, the intervention group reported significantly enhanced utilization rates for all these components, except "Assist: set a quit date"., Conclusions: The "Wechat Wequit" training program effectively enhanced smoking cessation intervention adoption among Chinese HSPs., Implication: 'WeChat WeQuit' training program was effective in increasing the provision of effective tobacco cessation interventions by Chinese-speaking HSPs to patients with cigarette smoking, which could provide valuable insights into bridging the gap between need and services for smoking cessation in China., (© The Author(s) 2024. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Society for Research on Nicotine and Tobacco.)
- Published
- 2024
- Full Text
- View/download PDF