Evaluation of a medical student-delivered smoking prevention program utilizing a face-aging mobile app for secondary schools in Germany: The Education Against Tobacco Cluster-Randomized Controlled Trial
Mené en Allemagne par questionnaire auprès de 11 286 étudiants, cet essai randomisé évalue l'effet, sur la prévalence du tabagisme à 24 mois, d'une application mobile simulant le vieillissement cutané prématuré du visage lié à l'usage de tabac
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 7,437 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), but 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.
European Journal of Cancer , article en libre accès, 2024