MiQuit trial: tailored text messages for pregnant smokers v1

• Research type

  Research Study

• Full title

  Evaluation of a tailored text message intervention for pregnant smokers (MiQuit): A proof of concept trial.

• IRAS ID

  121314

• Contact name

  Tim Coleman

• Contact email

  tim.coleman@nottingham.ac.uk

• Research summary

  Epidemiological evidence indicates that smoking during pregnancy increases the risk of many pregnancy related complications and is associated with many adverse postnatal problems. Around 15% of women still smoke throughout their pregnancy; younger women and those from more deprived backgrounds are much more likely to smoke. Behavioural support, available through NHS Stop Smoking Services, is effective but only accessed by a minority of smokers with most trying to quit alone. For this large group, self-help interventions may be an effective alternative.
  MiQuit is a tailored, self-help, text-message intervention developed for pregnant smokers. A pilot study found this was feasible and acceptable for recipients (Naughton et al., 2012); 12.5% of MiQuit recipients reported not smoking in the previous seven days, compared with 7.8% in the control group. if MiQuit could have such an impact in routine NHS care, its low cost would make it highly cost-effective.

  Before MiQuit could be used in routine care, a definitive randomised controlled trial (RCT) would be needed but currently there is insufficient information to justify conducting this. Consequently, we propose a ‘proof of concept’ (POC) trial to investigate whether it is possible to evaluate MiQuit in a multi-centre RCT located within the NHS, using NHS research network resources. This study will recruit 400 pregnant smokers to either MiQuit or control, and will provide estimates for the parameters required for determining the necessary resources for a definitive trial. These include: the range of recruitment rates in different centres; quit rates amongst participants; feasibility of assessing smoking status of trial participants in later pregnancy and ascertainment rates obtained; and the likely effect of MiQuit when women are offered this in NHS settings.

• REC name

  East Midlands - Nottingham 1 Research Ethics Committee

• REC reference

  13/EM/0427

• Date of REC Opinion

  16 Dec 2013

• REC opinion

  Favourable Opinion