TY - JOUR
T1 - Evaluation of a medical student-delivered smoking prevention program utilizing a face-aging mobile app for secondary schools in Germany
T2 - The Education Against Tobacco cluster-randomized controlled trial
AU - Brinker, Titus J.
AU - Krieghoff-Henning, Eva I.
AU - Suhre, Janina L.
AU - Silchmüller, Marc Phillipp
AU - Divizieva, Evgenia
AU - Wilhelm, Jilada
AU - Hillebrand, Gabriel
AU - Haney, Ailís C.
AU - Srivastava, Aayushi
AU - Haney, Caelán M.
AU - Seeger, Werner
AU - Penka, Dominik
AU - Gall, Henning
AU - Gaim, Benedikt
AU - Glisic, Lazar
AU - Stark, Tobias
AU - Swoboda, Susanne M.
AU - Baumermann, Sonja
AU - Brieske, Christian M.
AU - Jakob, Lena
AU - Fahrner, Hannah Maria
AU - Anhuef, Ole
AU - Schmidt, Selina Marisa
AU - Alfitian, Jonas
AU - Taha, Lava
AU - Beißwenger, Hanna
AU - Groneberg, David A.
AU - Thomas, Roger E.
AU - Fröhling, Stefan
AU - von Kalle, Christof
AU - Baudson, Tanja Gabriele
AU - Buslaff, Fabian
AU - Mons, Ute
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2024 The Authors
PY - 2024/9
Y1 - 2024/9
N2 - Background: To reduce smoking uptake in adolescents, the medical students' network Education Against Tobacco (EAT) has developed a school-based intervention involving a face-aging mobile app (Smokerface). Methods: A two-arm cluster-randomized controlled trial was conducted, evaluating the 2016 EAT intervention, which employed the mobile app Smokerface and which was delivered by medical students. Schools were randomized to intervention or control group. Surveys were conducted at baseline (pre-intervention) and at 9, 16, and 24 months post-intervention via paper & pencil questionnaires. The primary outcome was the difference in within-group changes in smoking prevalence between intervention and control group at 24 months. Results: Overall, 144 German secondary schools comprising 11,286 pupils participated in the baseline survey, of which 100 schools participated in the baseline and at least one of the follow-up surveys, yielding 7437 pupils in the analysis sample. After 24 months, smoking prevalence was numerically lower in the intervention group compared to control group (12.9 % vs. 14.3 %); however, between-group differences in change in smoking prevalence between baseline and 24-months follow-up (OR=0.83, 95 %-CI: 0.64–1.09) were not statistically significant (p = 0.176). Intention to start smoking among baseline non-smokers declined non-significantly in the intervention group (p = 0.064), and remained essentially unchanged in the control group, but between-group differences in changes at the 24-months follow-up (OR=0.88, 0.64–1.21) were not statistically significant (p = 0.417). Conclusion: While a trend towards beneficial effects of the intervention regarding smoking prevalence as well as intention to start smoking among baseline non-smokers was observed, our smoking prevention trial demonstrated no significant effect of the intervention.
AB - Background: To reduce smoking uptake in adolescents, the medical students' network Education Against Tobacco (EAT) has developed a school-based intervention involving a face-aging mobile app (Smokerface). Methods: A two-arm cluster-randomized controlled trial was conducted, evaluating the 2016 EAT intervention, which employed the mobile app Smokerface and which was delivered by medical students. Schools were randomized to intervention or control group. Surveys were conducted at baseline (pre-intervention) and at 9, 16, and 24 months post-intervention via paper & pencil questionnaires. The primary outcome was the difference in within-group changes in smoking prevalence between intervention and control group at 24 months. Results: Overall, 144 German secondary schools comprising 11,286 pupils participated in the baseline survey, of which 100 schools participated in the baseline and at least one of the follow-up surveys, yielding 7437 pupils in the analysis sample. After 24 months, smoking prevalence was numerically lower in the intervention group compared to control group (12.9 % vs. 14.3 %); however, between-group differences in change in smoking prevalence between baseline and 24-months follow-up (OR=0.83, 95 %-CI: 0.64–1.09) were not statistically significant (p = 0.176). Intention to start smoking among baseline non-smokers declined non-significantly in the intervention group (p = 0.064), and remained essentially unchanged in the control group, but between-group differences in changes at the 24-months follow-up (OR=0.88, 0.64–1.21) were not statistically significant (p = 0.417). Conclusion: While a trend towards beneficial effects of the intervention regarding smoking prevalence as well as intention to start smoking among baseline non-smokers was observed, our smoking prevention trial demonstrated no significant effect of the intervention.
KW - Prevention
KW - Schools
KW - Smoking
KW - Smoking prevention
KW - Tobacco prevention
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85200408366&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.ejca.2024.114255
DO - 10.1016/j.ejca.2024.114255
M3 - Article
C2 - 39111207
AN - SCOPUS:85200408366
SN - 0959-8049
VL - 209
JO - European Journal of Cancer
JF - European Journal of Cancer
M1 - 114255
ER -