IMPORTANCE Most smoking cessation (SC) clinics are costly, passive, and underused. OBJECTIVE To compare the SC effect of a combined intervention involving brief, model-guided SC advice plus active referral to SC services (active referral group) with those of brief, model-guided SC advice only (brief advice group) and general SC advice only (control group). DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS A single-blind, 3-arm, pragmatic cluster randomized clinical trial was conducted including 1226 adult daily smokers in the general Hong Kong community proactively recruited to participate in the Quit-to-Win Contest held in 2015. The study was conducted from June 20 to September 24, 2015. Participants were randomly allocated to the active referral (n = 402), brief advice (n = 416), and control (n = 408) groups. Intention-to-treat analysis was used. INTERVENTIONS Brief telephone counseling was offered to the active referral and brief advice groups at 1 and 2 months. Interventions were delivered by SC ambassadors who had undergone a short training period. MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES The primary outcome was the self-reported past 7-day point prevalence of abstinence (PPA) at 6 months. The secondary outcomes were carbon monoxide level-validated abstinence, smoking reduction, and SC service use. RESULTS Participants included 991 (80.8%) men; mean (SD) age was 42.0 (14.8) years. The response rate was 68.2% at 3 and 72.3% at 6 months. The corresponding PPAs were 18.9% and 17.2% in the active referral group-higher than in the brief advice (8.9% and 9.4%; both P Յ .001) or control (14.0% and 11.5%; P = .03 at 6 months) groups. Compared with the other 2 groups, the active referral group had significantly higher validated abstinence rates (10.2% at 3 months and 9.0% at 6 months, all P < .05) with odds ratios of 2.84 (95% CI, 1.57-5.15) and 2.61 (95% CI, 1.46-4.68) at 3 months, and 1.85 (95% CI, 1.06-3.23) and 1.81 (95% CI, 1.04-3.16) at 6 months in the brief advice and control groups, respectively. The SC service use rate was significantly higher in the active referral group (25.1%) than in either brief advice (2.4%) or control (3.4%) groups at 6 months (P < .001). CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE An intervention involving brief advice and active referral delivered to smokers in the community by volunteers can increase quitting in places where SC services are available but underused. TRIAL REGISTRATION clinicaltrials.gov Identifier: NCT02539875

The aim of the study was to examine the effects of a brief stage-matched smoking cessation intervention group compared with a control group (with usual care) in type 2 diabetes mellitus patients who smoked by randomized controlled trial. There were 557 patients, randomized either into the intervention group (n = 283) who received brief (20- minute) individualized face-to-face counseling by trained nurses and a diabetes mellitus-specific leaflet, or a control group (n = 274) who received standard care. Patient follow-ups were at 1 week, 1 month, 3 months, 6 months, and 12 months via telephone, and assessment of smoking status from 2012 to 2014. Patients smoked an average of 14 cigarettes per day for more than 37 years, and more than 70% were in the precontemplation stage of quitting. The primary outcome showed that both the intervention and control groups had similar 7-day point-prevalence smoking abstinence (9.2% vs. 13.9%; p = 0.08). The secondary outcome showed that HbA1c levels with 7.95% [63 mmol/mol] vs. 8.05% [64 mmol/mol], p = 0.49 at 12 months, respectively. There was no evidence for effectiveness in promoting the brief stage-matched smoking cessation or improving glycemic control in smokers with type 2 diabetes mellitus, particularly those in the pre-contemplation stage.

Background and aims Proactive brief cessation advice by a lay counsellor combined with a referral to a smoking cessation service (active referral) is effective in increasing service use and quitting in community smokers. We compared the effect of two modified approaches to referrals on the cessation outcomes in community smokers. Design Three‐arm cluster‐randomized trial. Setting General community in Hong Kong. Participants Daily cigarette smokers (n = 1163; 77.7% male). Interventions Participants were randomized to receive on‐site active referral (OSR, n = 395), where lay counsellors helped participants make appointments with a smoking cessation service of their choice plus tailored reminders; mobile text messaging referral (TMR, n = 385), where participants were encouraged to use a smoking cessation service via text messages; or brief cessation advice only (control, n = 383). Measurements The primary outcome was a self‐reported 7‐day point‐prevalence abstinence at 6 months post‐treatment initiation. Secondary outcomes included 7‐day point‐prevalence abstinence at 3 and 18 months, biochemically validated abstinence, smoking reduction and the use of cessation services at 3, 6 and 18 months. Findings Using intention‐to‐treat analysis, the OSR (17.7%) and TMR (17.1%) groups had significantly higher self‐reported abstinence than the control (12.0%) group at 6 months [odds ratio (OR) for OSR versus control = 1.58, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 1.06–2.36; OR for TMR versus control = 1.52, 95% CI = 1.01–2.28; both P < 0.05]. The corresponding validated abstinence rates at 6 months were 7.6, 7.8 and 3.9% (OR for TMR versus control = 2.02, 95% CI = 1.07–3.81; OR for TMR versus control = 2.07, 95% CI = 1.10–3.92; both P < 0.05). Self‐reported and validated abstinence were similar at 18 months. OSR groups had higher rates of smoking cessation service use than the control group at all follow‐ups (all P < 0.001). The smoking reduction rates were similar in continuing smokers. Conclusions Simple active referrals (in person or via text messaging) to smoking cessation services increased abstinence rates among smokers in Hong Kong compared with general brief cessation advice. On‐site active referral increased the use of smoking cessation services compared with general brief cessation advice.

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