Long-term engagement in EXPAND social marketing campaign promoting smoking and vaping cessation amongst queer and trans youth
| ISRCTN | ISRCTN96896104 |
|---|---|
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1186/ISRCTN96896104 |
| Secondary identifying numbers | University of Toronto RIS# 38536 |
- Submission date
- 24/02/2025
- Registration date
- 25/02/2025
- Last edited
- 25/02/2025
- Recruitment status
- No longer recruiting
- Overall study status
- Ongoing
- Condition category
- Other
Plain English summary of protocol
Background and study aims
This study aims to tackle the high rates of cigarette and e-cigarette use among young adult queer and trans communities in Canada. It explores the impact of a social marketing campaign combined with monthly encouragement emails to help reduce and stop smoking.
Who can participate?
Young adults aged 16 - 24 years in the eight communities involved in the study can participate. These communities are exposed to the social marketing campaign, and some participants will receive additional monthly encouragement emails.
What does the study involve?
Participants will receive monthly emails that provide tips, encouragement, and links to campaign resources to help them reduce or quit smoking. These emails aim to keep participants engaged and motivated throughout the study.
What are the possible benefits and risks of participating?
Participants may benefit from the support and resources provided, which could help them reduce or quit smoking. There are no significant risks associated with participating, but some individuals might find it challenging to change their smoking habits.
Where is the study run from?
Dalla Lana School of Public Health in Canada.
When is the study starting and how long is it expected to run for?
January 2024 to December 2025
Who is funding the study?
Public Health Agency of Canada.
Who is the main contact?
Professor Robert Schwartz, robert.schwartz@utoronto.ca
Contact information
Public, Scientific, Principal Investigator
155 College Street
Toronto
M3T 13S
Canada
 ORCID ID |
0000-0001-7838-0769 |
|---|---|
| Phone | +1 4163464509 |
| robert.schwartz@utoronto.ca |
Study information
| Study design | Interventional randomized controlled trial |
|---|---|
| Primary study design | Interventional |
| Secondary study design | Randomised controlled trial |
| Study setting(s) | Community |
| Study type | Other |
| Participant information sheet | No participant information sheet available |
| Scientific title | RCT of long-term engagement of queer & trans youth in the EXPAND social marketing campaign promoting smoking and vaping cessation |
| Study objectives | Long-term and frequent engagement increases the likelihood of engaging in campaign activities, taking actions to reduce or stop smoking and vaping and reducing or stopping smoking and vaping. |
| Ethics approval(s) |
Approved 28/06/2024, University of Toronto Health Sciences REB (McMurrich Building, 12 Queen’s Park Crescent West, 2nd Floor, Toronto, M5S 1S8, Canada; +1 416 946-5763; ethics.review@utoronto.ca), ref: 49501 |
| Health condition(s) or problem(s) studied | Supporting queer and trans youth to stop smoking cigarettes and using e-cigarettes |
| Intervention | A social marketing campaign including paid social media, out of home advertising, organic social media, local in-person events, free NRT, quit contests and local cessation counseling opportunities across 8 cities in Canada. All participants are equally exposed to the social marketing campaign. Half of 800 participants recruited through social media ads are randomly assigned to an experimental group that receives monthly emails encouraging engagement in the campaign and actions to reduce and stop cigarette and e-cigarette use. Both the experimental and control groups complete surveys at baseline and at the end of the 12 month intervention. Randomisation used the =RANDBETWEEN function in Excel. |
| Intervention type | Behavioural |
| Primary outcome measure | Engagement with the campaign measured using survey self-report at 12 month follow-up |
| Secondary outcome measures | 1. Actions to reduce or stop cigarette and e-cigarette use measured using using survey questions about ordering free Nicotine Replacement kits, chatting with friends or family about quitting smoking, looking up community quit smoking supports, talking to a health professional and signing up for the First Week Quit Smoking Challenge at 12 month follow-up. 2. Reduction of cigarette and e-cigarette use measured using survey self- report at 12 month follow-up . 3. Cessation of cigarette and e-cigarette use measured using survey self-report at 12 month follow-up |
| Overall study start date | 01/01/2024 |
| Completion date | 30/12/2025 |
Eligibility
| Participant type(s) | Population |
|---|---|
| Age group | Other |
| Lower age limit | 16 Years |
| Upper age limit | 24 Years |
| Sex | Both |
| Target number of participants | 3000 |
| Total final enrolment | 800 |
| Key inclusion criteria | 1. Young adults aged 16 to 29. 2. Quota sampling will ensure recruitment of approximately 60% smokers and 40% non-smokers. 3. Approximately half of all participants will be recruited from the participating project communities (Vancouver, Edmonton, Winnipeg, Toronto, Thunder Bay, Montreal, St. John’s, and Charlottetown). The remainder were recruited from across the respective provinces of British Columbia, Alberta, Manitoba, Ontario, Quebec, Newfoundland and Labrador and Prince Edward Island. |
| Key exclusion criteria | 1. Invalid email addresses 2. Below age of 16 years and above age of 24 years 3. Not residents of provinces included in the study |
| Date of first enrolment | 01/09/2024 |
| Date of final enrolment | 15/10/2024 |
Locations
Countries of recruitment
- Canada
Study participating centre
Toronto
M3T 13S
Canada
Sponsor information
University/education
Dalla Lana School of Public Health
155 College Street
Toronto
M3T 13S
Canada
| Phone | +1 4160978-3901 |
|---|---|
| dlsph@utoronto.ca | |
| Website | https://www.dlsph.utoronto.ca/ |
"ROR" |
https://ror.org/03dbr7087 |
Funders
Funder type
Government
Government organisation / National government
- Alternative name(s)
- Agence de la Santé Publique du Canada, L'Agence de la santé publique du Canada, PHAC, ASPC
- Location
- Canada
Results and Publications
| Intention to publish date | 30/11/2026 |
|---|---|
| Individual participant data (IPD) Intention to share | Yes |
| IPD sharing plan summary | Available on request |
| Publication and dissemination plan | Planned publication in a peer-reviewed journal and presentation at conferences. |
| IPD sharing plan | The datasets generated during and/or analysed during the current study will be available upon request from Robert Schwartz at robert.schwartz@utoronto.ca |
Editorial Notes
25/02/2025: Trial's existence confirmed by University of Toronto.
