Brief Advice, Nicotine Replacement Therapy Sampling and Active Referral (BANSAR) for Smoking Fathers

Secondhand smoke (SHS) exposure cause substantial harms to pregnant women, foeti and infants. Smoking cessation (SC) interventions for smoking expectant fathers are needed particularly in China where male smoking predominates and many pregnant women (about 30% in Hong Kong) were exposed to SHS. Prenatal period presents a valuable teachable moment to engage smoking expectant father in tobacco dependence treatment. However, most smoking cessation trials were conducted in the Western countries on smoking pregnant women or smoking couples. Very few trials were designed to target fathers quitting.

Given the busy clinical settings in Hong Kong Public Hospitals, evidence-based, low-cost and sustainable brief cessation intervention applicable in real-world practice is imperative. Informed by previous research, a combined cessation intervention of brief advice, nicotine replacement therapy sampling and active referral (BANSAR) has been developed for smoking expectant father. This multicentre, pragmatic, assessor-blinded, individually-randomized controlled trial aims to evaluate BANSAR for smoking cessation outcomes in smoking expectant father visiting prenatal clinics in Hong Kong

Inclusion criteria

for both expectant father and mother:

• Hong Kong resident aged 18 or above
• Able to read and communicate in Chinese
• Living together in the past 7 days

Inclusion criteria

for expectant father:

• Having smoked 1 or more cigarettes daily in the past 3 months
• Having a telephone or mobile phone contact

Inclusion criteria

for expectant mother:

• Not having smoked any cigarette in the past 30 days

Exclusion criteria

for expectant father

• Having any history of severe angina, arrhythmia, or acute myocardial infarction
• Having psychiatric/psychological diseases or regular psychotropic medications
• Having used smoking cessation aids or participated in other smoking cessation services or projects in the past 3 months