Publications by authors named "Vienna Wai Yin Lai"

Importance: Determining how individuals engage with digital health interventions over time is crucial to understand and optimize intervention outcomes.

Objective: To identify the engagement trajectories with a mobile chat-based smoking cessation intervention and examine its association with biochemically validated abstinence.

Design, Setting, And Participants: A secondary analysis of a pragmatic, cluster randomized clinical trial conducted in Hong Kong with 6-month follow-up.

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Objectives: To examine the associations between tobacco industry denormalisation (TID) beliefs and support for tobacco endgame policies.

Methods: A total of 2810 randomly selected adult respondents of population-based tobacco policy-related surveys (2018-2019) were included. TID beliefs (agree vs disagree/unsure) were measured by seven items: tobacco manufacturers ignore health, induce addiction, hide harm, spread false information, lure smoking, interfere with tobacco control policies and should be responsible for health problems.

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Introduction: Smoking prevalence among people in custody (PIC) is extremely high, and prison-based smoking cessation interventions are needed. The study explored the quitting experiences of PIC who participated in the 'Quit to Win' contest (QTW).

Methods: This qualitative study, conducted from 2019 to 2021 in two Hong Kong prisons, included semi-structured individual interviews with 26 PIC (13 men and 13 women) who were participants in QTW and two correctional staff who coordinated QTW.

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Introduction: Observational and experimental studies have suggested that messaging on smoking-related COVID-19 risk may promote smoking abstinence, but evidence from randomized clinical trials (RCTs) is lacking.

Methods: This was a pragmatic RCT in Hong Kong, China, to compare the effectiveness of communicating smoking-related COVID-19 risk with generic cessation support on abstinence. Both groups received brief cessation advice at baseline.

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Background: Hong Kong has proposed banning the sale of heated tobacco products (HTPs). Perceptions of reduced harms and effectiveness for quitting combustible cigarettes (CCs) of HTPs due to their promotions may erode public support for regulations. We assessed the associations between perceptions of HTPs and support for regulations in Hong Kong.

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A growing body of evidence shows smoking is a risk factor for coronavirus disease (COVID-19). We examined the associations of quitting-related behaviors with perceived susceptibility to and severity of COVID-19 in smokers. We conducted a telephone survey of 659 community-based adult smokers (81.

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Introduction: Evidence-based smoking cessation treatments are effective but underutilised, accentuating the need for novel approaches to increase use. This trial investigates the effects of active referral combined with a financial incentive to use smoking cessation services on smoking abstinence among community smokers.

Methods And Analysis: This ongoing study is a two-arm, assessor-blinded, pragmatic, cluster randomised controlled trial with follow-ups at 1, 2, 3 and 6 months after randomisation.

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Introduction: Heated tobacco products (HTPs) are increasingly popular worldwide, but whether they aid or undermine cigarette abstinence remains uncertain. We examined the predictors of HTP initiation and the prospective association of HTP use with cigarette abstinence in community-based smokers in Hong Kong.

Design: Secondary analysis of a randomised clinical trial aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of brief advice and referral for smoking cessation.

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Background And Aims: Proactive brief cessation advice by a lay counsellor combined with a referral to a smoking cessation service (active referral) is effective in increasing service use and quitting in community smokers. We compared the effect of two modified approaches to referrals on the cessation outcomes in community smokers.

Design: Three-arm cluster-randomized trial.

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Background: Monetary incentive is often used to increase response rate in smokers' survey, but such effect of prepaid and promised incentives in a follow-up survey is unknown. We compared the effect of different incentive schemes on the consent and retention rates in a follow-up survey of adult cigarette smokers.

Methods: This was a randomized controlled trial (RCT) in Hong Kong, China.

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Background: Youth smoking continues to be a significant global public health concern. To ensure healthier lives for youths, healthcare professionals need to increase awareness among the youth of the health risks and addictive nature of smoking, strengthen their ability to resist negative peer influence and curiosity, and help those who smoked to quit. The Smoke-free Teens Programme was launched in 2012 to equip youngsters with up-to-date information about smoking and global trends in tobacco control and to encourage them to play a pioneering role in tobacco control.

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Background: Novel approaches to engage community smokers in smoking cessation are needed as smokers typically lack motivation to quit or use evidence-based tobacco dependence treatment. Mobile instant messaging apps (e.g.

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Background: Actively referring smokers to smoking cessation (SC) services could increase quitting and is scalable for the population. The objective of this study is to compare 2 different intensities of SC active referral for smokers in the community of Hong Kong.

Methods/design: This is a single-blind, parallel 3-armed cluster randomized controlled trial (cRCT) consisting of high-intensity SC active referral (HAR Group), low-intensity SC referral by text messaging on promoting SC services use (Text Group) and a control group receives general very brief advice.

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Background: Most smokers do not use smoking cessation (SC) services although it increases successful quits. Passive referral providing SC information to smokers is commonly used in SC studies. Little was known about active referral in the community setting.

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