Community-based Mobile-assisted Brief Intervention for Smoking Cessation

Mobile-assisted Brief Intervention for Smoking Cessation in Community-based Setting: a Pilot Randomised Controlled Trial

The goal of this pilot trial is to evaluate the feasibility of a mobile-assisted brief intervention for smoking cessation in community-based individuals in Singapore. Specific aims include:

1. To assess how many eligible individuals accept the invitation to participate in the trial
2. To assess the retention of the participants through 6 months after treatment initiation
3. To assess the acceptability of the intervention in terms of participants' engagement and ratings
4. To examine the intervention effect on abstinence outcomes

Participants will be randomly assigned to either the intervention group or control group and followed for 6 months from randomisation.

Study Overview

• Status: Recruiting
• Conditions: Smoking &Amp; Tobacco Cessation
• Intervention / Treatment: Behavioral: Brief cessation advice + self-help booklet; Behavioral: Opt-out referral; Behavioral: Mobile chat messaging

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Estimated): 100
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

• Study Contact: Name: Tzu Tsun Luk, PhD, RN; Phone Number: 65-66015938; Email: luktt@nus.edu.sg
• Study Contact Backup: Name: Joey TW Tyoh, BSc, RN; Email: joey.tyoh@nus.edu.sg

Study Locations

• Singapore
  • Singapore, Singapore
    • Recruiting
    • National University of Singapore
    • Contact: Tzu Tsun Luk, PhD, RN; Phone Number: 65-66015938; Email: luktt@nus.edu.sg
    • Contact: Joey TW Tyoh, BSc, RN; Email: joey.tyoh@nus.edu.sg
    • Principal Investigator: Tzu Tsun Luk, PhD, RN

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: Adult; Older Adult
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: Yes

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• Aged 21 to 80 years
• Smoked at least one cigarette daily
• Able to communicate and read in English or Chinese
• Own a smartphone with WhatsApp installed

Exclusion Criteria:

• Exposed to any smoking cessation treatment in the past 3 months
• Pregnant women

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: Treatment
• Allocation: Randomized
• Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
• Masking: None (Open Label)

Number of Arms

2

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Mobile-assisted brief intervention	Behavioral: Brief cessation advice + self-help booklet; Participants will receive brief cessation advice following the AWARD (ask, warn, advise, refer, do-it-again) model and a 24-page self-help booklet.; Behavioral: Opt-out referral; Research personnel will assist the participant in signing up for the I Quit Programme to receive additional cessation support, unless they decline; Behavioral: Mobile chat messaging; Participants will receive personalised chat-based support delivered by a live counsellor for 3 months via WhatsApp. The message will incorporate behaviour change techniques for smoking cessation and mindfulness principles to strengthen participants' capacity to quit smoking.
Active Comparator: Brief advice	Behavioral: Brief cessation advice + self-help booklet; Participants will receive brief cessation advice following the AWARD (ask, warn, advise, refer, do-it-again) model and a 24-page self-help booklet.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Retention rate	Number of participants completed the follow-up divided by the number of participants	6 months
Recruitment rate	Number of participants divided by the number of eligible subjects	6 months
Biochemically validated smoking abstinence rate	Defined as an exhaled carbon monoxide level of <5 parts per million or a negative salivary cotinine test (cut off 30ng/mL)	6 months

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Self-reported 7-day point-prevalence smoking abstinence rate	Being completely smoke-free in the past 7 days	3 months
Self-reported 7-day point-prevalence smoking abstinence rate	Being completely smoke-free in the past 7 days	6 months
Self-reported smoking reduction rate	Smoking reduction by at least half of the baseline daily number of cigarettes in individuals who continue to smoke	3 months
Self-reported smoking reduction rate	Smoking reduction by at least half of the baseline daily number of cigarettes in individuals who continue to smoke	6 months
Self-reported quit attempt rate	Serious quit attempt that lasted 24 hours or longer	3 months
Self-reported quit attempt rate	Serious quit attempt that lasted 24 hours or longer	6 months
Smoking cessation service use rate	Use of any smoking cessation service during the follow-up period	3 months
Smoking cessation service use rate	Use of any smoking cessation service during the follow-up period	6 months

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: National University of Singapore
• Investigators: Principal Investigator: Tzu Tsun Luk, PhD, RN, National University of Singapore

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): February 4, 2026
• Primary Completion (Estimated): December 31, 2026
• Study Completion (Estimated): March 31, 2027

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: January 22, 2026
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: January 22, 2026
• First Posted (Actual): January 29, 2026

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): April 9, 2026
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: April 8, 2026
• Last Verified: April 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Keywords: smoking cessation; mHealth; WhatsApp; Singapore; chat-based intervention
• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: Behavior; Health Behavior; Smoking; Smoking Cessation; Tobacco Use Cessation
• Other Study ID Numbers: NUS-IRB-2025-690

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

• Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?: NO

Drug and device information, study documents

• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product: No
• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product: No