Evaluating the effectiveness of using personal tailored risk information and taster sessions to increase the uptake of smoking cessation services: study protocol for a randomised controlled trial.
BACKGROUND
Although government-funded specialist smoking cessation services in England offer advice and support to smokers motivated to quit, only a small proportion of smokers make use of this service. Evidence suggests that if smokers are proactively and personally invited to use services, use will be higher than with a standard referral made by health professionals. Computer-based systems generating personalised tailored communications also have the potential to engage with a larger proportion of the smoking population. In this study smokers are proactively invited to use the NHS Stop Smoking Service (SSS), with a personal computer-tailored letter and the offer of a no-commitment introductory session designed to give more information about the service. The primary objective is to assess the relative effectiveness on attendance at the NHS SSS, of proactive recruitment by a brief personal letter, tailored to individual characteristics, and invitation to a taster session, over a standard generic letter advertising the service.


METHODS
This randomised controlled trial will recruit smokers from general practice who are motivated to quit and have not recently attended the NHS SSS. Smokers aged 16 years and over, identified from medical records in participating practices, are sent a brief screening questionnaire and cover letter from their GP. Smokers giving consent are randomised to the Control group to receive a standard generic letter advertising the local service, or to the Intervention group to receive a brief personal, tailored letter with risk information and an invitation to attend a 'Come and Try it' taster session. The primary outcome, assessed 6 months after the date of randomisation, is the proportion of people attending the NHS SSS for at least one session. Planned recruitment is to secure 4,500 participants, from 18 regions in England served by an NHS SSS.


CONCLUSIONS
Personal risk information generated by computer, with the addition of taster sessions, could be widely replicated and delivered cost effectively to a large proportion of the smoking population. The results of this trial will inform the potential of this method to increase referrals to specialised smoking cessation services and prompt more quit attempts.


BACKGROUND
Current Controlled Trials ISRCTN76561916.
Research Department of Primary Care and Population Health, UCL, London, UK. hazel.gilbert@ucl.ac.uk
Hazel
H
Gilbert
Stephen
S
Sutton
Richard
R
Morris
Steve
S
Parrot
Simon
S
Galton
Irwin
I
Nazareth
D002985:Clinical Protocols; D004739:England; D005069:Evaluation Studies as Topic; D006801:Humans; D017063:Outcome Assessment, Health Care; D012306:Risk; D018401:Sample Size; D016540:Smoking Cessation; D013222:State Medicine