Adding an electronic-cigarette to standard behavioural treatment for low-socioeconomic status smokers: A randomised controlled trial
March 2017
Staff:
Dr Ryan Courtney
Professor Richard Mattick
Professor Michael Farrell
Professor Anthony Shakeshaft
Other Collaborators:
Prof Ron Borland (Cancer Council Victoria)
Dr Coral Gartner (University of Queensland)
Prof Hayden McRobbie (Queen Mary University London)
A/Prof Dennis Petrie (Monash University)
Prof Mohammad Siahpush (University of Nebraska Medical Center)
Prof Robyn Richmond (UNSW)
Prof Christopher Doran (Central Queensland University)
Prof Colin Mendelsohn (UNSW)
Prof Nicholas Zwar (University of Wollongong)
Prof Wayne Hall (University of Queensland)
Project description:
Behavioural and pharmacological approaches to smoking cessation are effective at helping people to quit but long-term quit rates remain low, especially among low-SES Australians. This $1.38 NHMRC funded project is aimed at investigating whether the electronic cigarette is an effective addition to current treatment approaches. The investigators will conduct a large-scale trial to determine if “e-cigarettes” can improve on the efficacy of existing treatments. The findings would have immediate practical implications that could reduce the preventable deaths of many tobacco smokers. The study is the first in the world to compare e-cigarettes to an existing standard treatment with a focus on the potential of e-cigarettes to provide a unique appeal to low-SES smokers. The study design is a rigorous, single-blinded, two-group randomised controlled trial (RCT) that compares smoking cessation rates between, two groups of 434 low-SES smokers (N = 868), randomly allocated to either: (1) a current Standard Treatment (ST) - Quitline support + oral form of Nicotine Replacement Therapy (gum/ lozenge); or (2) an Experimental Treatment (ET) - Quitline support + e-cigarette.
Start Date: January 2017
Completion: December 2020
For more information see project page
