Skip to main content
OpenTrials
Completed

NCT Number: NCT05783843

Comparison of Text and Pictorial Waterpipe Tobacco Warnings Among Young Adults

The purpose of this study is to whether exposure to waterpipe tobacco warnings reduce young adults' intentions to smoke waterpipe in the future.

Completed

Looking for future studies?

Notify Me

Key information

Conditions

Waterpipe Tobacco Smoking

Age range

18 year–29 year

Sex eligibility

All sexes

Study type

Interventional

Phase

Not applicable

Primary location

Wake Forest University Health Sciences

Winston-Salem, North Carolina, 27157, United States

About this study

Young adults, defined as those 18-29 years old, have the highest rates of waterpipe tobacco smoking, which increases their risk of a variety of pulmonary, neurological, and oncological health conditions, among many others. This trial will randomly assign young adult waterpipe users or those susceptible to use to view waterpipe tobacco packages with text warning, pictorial warnings, or no warnings in a one-time online study. Participants will answer a series of questions regarding each package.

Who can participate

Healthy volunteers accepted: Yes

Only the study team can determine whether someone qualifies for participation.

Inclusion criteria

  • United States (US) Resident
  • Has used waterpipe tobacco within the past year (self-report) OR
  • Has not used waterpipe tobacco within the past year but is susceptible to use (self-report)

Exclusion criteria

  • Younger than 18 or older than 29
  • Not a US Resident
  • Has not used waterpipe tobacco within the past year and is not susceptible to use (self-report)

Treatment and study plan

Pictorial Warnings

Behavioral

Participants will be shown 6 waterpipe tobacco packages with 6 different pictorial warnings about the health harms of waterpipe smoking. The order of the 6 packages within this trial arm will be randomized. Study investigators developed a fictitious waterpipe tobacco brand to be used in this study and designed the warnings for this arm.

Text Warnings

Behavioral

Participants will be shown 6 waterpipe tobacco packages with 6 different text-only warnings about the health harms of waterpipe smoking. The order of the 6 packages within this trial arm will be randomized. Study investigators developed a fictitious waterpipe tobacco brand to be used in this study and designed the warnings for this arm.

No Warnings (Control)

Behavioral

Participants will be shown a single package without a warning. Study investigators developed a fictitious waterpipe tobacco brand to be used in this study.

Primary outcomes

  1. Behavioral Intentions

    Time frame: Minute 2

    The primary outcome is intention to smoke tobacco in a waterpipe within the next year, measured by averaging three items to create a composite score (adapted from research on cigarette smoking). The primary outcome will be measured after the exposure to waterpipe packages. Score ranges from 1-5 with higher score indicating greater intention to smoke hookah.

    • How interested are you in smoking hookah in the next year?
    • How likely are you to smoke hookah in the next year?
    • How much do you plan to smoke hookah in the next year? Response scale: (1) Not at all / (2) Very little / (3) Somewhat / (4) Quite a bit / (5) Very interested/likely/much

Other outcomes

  1. Product Appeal

    Time frame: Minute 2

    Three items will be used to measure how appealing each waterpipe tobacco package is to respondents, how likely they would be to try the product, and how much the packaging makes the respondent think that the product is harmful.

    • How appealing is this product to you?
    • How likely would you be to try this product?
    • How much does this packaging make you think this product is harmful? Response scale: (1) Not at all / (2) A little / (3) Somewhat / (4) A lot

  2. Perceived Message Effectiveness

    Time frame: Minute 2

    This outcome will be measured using the 3-item Perceived Measured Effectiveness scale created by Noar and colleagues that includes items on attitudes, risk beliefs, and intentions. Mean scores will be calculated.

    • How much does this warning make smoking hookah seem unpleasant to you?
    • How much does this warning make you concerned about the health effects of smoking hookah?
    • How much does this warning discourage you from wanting to smoke hookah? Response scale: (1) Not at all / (2) Very little / (3) Somewhat / (4) Quite a bit / (5) A great deal

  3. Attention

    Time frame: Minute 1

    One item to measure self-reported attention to the warning.

    • How much does this warning grab your attention? Response scale: (1) Not at all / (2) Very little / (3) Somewhat / (4) Quite a bit / (5) A great deal

  4. Emotional Reactions

    Time frame: Minute 2

    Three items to measure negative emotional reactions to the warning that the participant saw. Mean scores will be calculated.

    • How much does this warning make you feel anxious?
    • How much does this warning make you feel disgusted?
    • How much does this warning make you feel scared? Response scale: (1) Not at all / (2) Very little / (3) Somewhat / (4) Quite a bit / (5) A great deal

  5. Cognitive Elaboration

    Time frame: Minute 1

    One item to measure the extent to which a participant reports the warning making them think about the risks of hookah smoking.

    • How much does this warning make you think about the health effects of smoking hookah? Response scale: (1) Not at all / (2) Very little / (3) Somewhat / (4) Quite a bit / (5) A great deal

  6. Self-reported Learning

    Time frame: Minute 1

    One item to measure the extent to which respondents learned something new from the warning.

    • To what extent did you learn something new from this warning that you did not already know? Response Scale: (1) Not at all / (2) Very little / (3) Somewhat / (4) Quite a bit / (5) A great deal

  7. Social Interactions

    Time frame: Minute 1

    One item to measure self-reported likelihood of discussing the warning shown with one's social contacts within the week following the survey.

    • How likely are you to talk about this warning with others in the next week? Response Scale: (1) Not at all / (2) Very little / (3) Somewhat / (4) Quite a bit / (5) A great deal

  8. Knowledge

    Time frame: Minute 3

    Six items to measure knowledge of the potential health harms described by the warnings.

    • Hookah smoking causes heart damage.
    • Hookah smoking causes lung damage.
    • Hookah smoking causes mouth cancer.
    • Hookah smoking causes carbon monoxide poisoning.
    • Hookah smoking during pregnancy stunts fetal growth.
    • Hookah smoking causes nicotine addiction. Response scale: (1) True / (2) False / (3) I don't know

  9. Beliefs

    Time frame: Minute 3

    Five items to measure the respondent's belief of their own risk of experiencing each of the warning health harms. One item measures risk to pregnant people, rather than the self, since this item will be administered to all participants.

    • If I smoke hookah, I will damage my heart.
    • If I smoke hookah, I will damage my lungs.
    • If I smoke hookah, I will get mouth cancer.
    • If I smoke hookah, I will get carbon monoxide poisoning.
    • If a person smokes hookah during pregnancy, it will stunt fetal growth.
    • If I smoke hookah, I will become addicted. Response scale: (1) Strongly disagree / (2) Somewhat disagree / (3) Neither disagree nor agree / (4) Somewhat agree / (5) Strongly agree

  10. Worry

    Time frame: Minute 3

    Five/six items measuring a respondent's concern about their risk of warning health effects. Damage to fetuses will only be asked of respondents who report female sex at birth.

    • If you smoke hookah, how much would you worry about getting mouth cancer?
    • If you smoke hookah, how much would you worry about damaging your heart?
    • If you smoke hookah, how much would you worry about damaging your lungs?
    • If you smoke hookah, how much would you worry about getting carbon monoxide poisoning?
    • If you smoke hookah, how much would you worry about stunting fetal growth, if you were pregnant?
    • If you smoke hookah, how much would you worry about becoming addicted? Response scale: (1) Not at all / (2) A little / (3) Somewhat / (4) A lot

  11. Quit Motivation

    Time frame: Minute 1

    Participants who report past-year use will report, on a scale of 1-10, how motivated they are to quit smoking hookah.

Sponsors and collaborators

Lead sponsor

Wake Forest University Health Sciences

Other

Collaborators

  • National Cancer Institute (NCI)

Registry information

Important dates

Study start
2023
Primary completion
2023
Study completion
2023
First posted
Mar 24, 2023
Registry last updated
May 21, 2024

OpenTrials presents study information sourced from ClinicalTrials.gov. The official registry record should be consulted for the latest information.

View the official ClinicalTrials.gov record (opens in a new tab)

This listing is for discovery and informational purposes only. It is not medical advice, does not guarantee that a study is recruiting, and does not determine eligibility. Contact the study team and a qualified healthcare professional when considering participation.

Related clinical trials

Published trials that share one or more normalized conditions with this study.