None listed
Conditions
Brief summary
Non-communicable diseases (NCDs) are dominating the cause of death out of illness in Syria. Reducing that percentage should start by fighting NCDs risk factors. Smoking is considered one of the top causes of NCDs. With smoking reaching alarming levels among Syrian youth and the lack of smoking cessation programs, the dominance of NCDs is likely to continue. Implementing a smoking cessation program should be driven out of evidence on its effectiveness and its feasibility especially in a low resources environment. Online based-programs adhere to social distancing procedures imposed by the current COVID-19 pandemic. Plus, it has the capability of reaching a highly displaced population. Facebook is the most popular social media among Syrian youth. That’s why this smoking cessation program will rely on Facebook to make use of its popularity. For that purpose, a closed group will be established and run by two coordinators. This group will have a sample of 60 Syrian youth smokers. In addition, it will have up to ten peers who were able to quit smoking previously. The two coordinators will post two posts daily. The first post will be in the following categories: the evidence-based way to quit smoking, the harmful effects of smoking, the beneficial effects of quitting smoking. The second one, however, will be a post to motivate participants and peers to engage with each other’s stories. All members of the group will be encouraged at all times to share their stories, concerns, and challenges. An additional treatment option will be offered for participants to engage in a one-on-one e-meeting with one of the clinical practitioners to receive a personalized consultation. This option will be offered to whoever of the participants who ask for it and for as many times as the participants require. This study will offer evidence for policymakers on the effectiveness and the feasibility of establishing social support in the future to fight the smoking epidemic. It will also guide future research in terms of other behavioral changes such as alcohol reduction, depression, suicide prevention.
Interventions
A closed Facebook group will be established for Syrian university students smokers for 30 days. This group will be managed by two group moderators coming from medical backgrounds. The first intervention is going to be two posts. The first one is written from open-source resources such as smokefree.gov, the Center for Disease Control website, and other scientific evidence. This post will be in one of the three main following categories: Evidence-based procedure to quit smoking, benefits of quitti
A closed Facebook group will be established for Syrian university students smokers for 30 days. This group will be managed by two group moderators coming from medical backgrounds. The first intervention is going to be two posts. The first one is written from open-source resources such as smokefree.gov, the Center for Disease Control website, and other scientific evidence. This post will be in one of the three main following categories: Evidence-based procedure to quit smoking, benefits of quitting smoking, and the harmful effects of smoking. The second post is going to be drafted in a way to encourage discussion among participants themselves and other group members (peers, practitioners, and moderators). Participants will spend 15 minutes per day reading those posts and interacting with them. This group will also have up to ten peers who are university students and were able to quit smoking previously. The second intervention is the stories of those peers which they will post on that group as either stand-alone posts or by commenting on participants' stories. Plus, the encouragement they will provide the participants with through private messaging. The participants are expected to spend another 15 minutes reading and interacting with those stories and messages. The last intervention is an optional treatment which is a virtual one-on-one meeting between a participant and a clinical practitioner who had previously trained in smoking cessation procedures to give the participant a personalized consultation. One e-meeting is expected to last up to 15 minutes. A participant is expected to ask for two e-meetings per week, which means the participant will spend up to 30 minutes interacting with the practitioners per week. The virtual one-on-one meetings will last for the entire duration of the online smoking cessation program i.e 30 days.
Sponsors
Qasyoun Private University
Study design
Allocation
Randomised controlled trial
Primary purpose
Treatment
Eligibility
Sex/Gender
All
Age
18 Years to No maximum
Healthy volunteers
Yes
Inclusion criteria
For participants: Smoking hookah more than three times per week. Smoker of more than 3 cigarettes per day. Vaping more than three times per week Smoker of both or more of the above who meets one of the above criteria. University student in a Syrian university Have a Facebook account. For peers: A non-smoker who quit smoking for at least six months. University student in a Syrian university. Has a Facebook account. The criteria for the clinical practitioner: Medical doctor. Dentist. Pharmacist. Nurse. Highly interested in smoking prevention. Preferably have previous community service as a volunteer.
Exclusion criteria
None
Outcome results
None listed