mHealth smoking cessation intervention among high-school pupils (NEXit Junior): study protocol for a randomized controlled trial

Abstract Background Mobile health (mHealth) interventions, using text messages to support high-school pupils to quit smoking, could be a novel and cost-effective approach. However, more research is needed, specifically to investigate long-term effectiveness. The study aims to evaluate the effectiveness of a newly developed mHealth intervention targeting smoking cessation among high-school pupils. Methods The study is a two-arm, randomized controlled trial with an intervention group (mHealth intervention) and a control group (treatment as usual: national smoking cessation help line). Outcome measures will be investigated at baseline and at 3, 6, and 12 months’ follow-up. Primary outcome measures will be: prolonged abstinence and 4-week point prevalence of smoking abstinence. Secondary outcome measures will be: 7-day point prevalence of smoking abstinence; mean number of quit attempts since taking part in the study; number of uses of other smoking cessation services since first invitation to the study and number of cigarettes smoked weekly if still smoking. Discussion High schools in Sweden are bound by law to offer a smoke-free environment. However, little effort has been made to offer support to pupils who wish to quit smoking; rather the emphasis is on prevention of uptake. The study will examine the effectiveness of a stand-alone mHealth intervention targeting smokers among high-school pupils. Trial registration The trial was not retrospectively registered and has been registered at ISRCTN with the unique identification number ISRCTN15396225. The trial was registered on 13 October 2017