Clinical trial NCT05129592: Can Exposure to Brief Messages Correct Misperceptions?
Official title: A Randomized Controlled Trial Testing the Efficacy of Brief Messages to Correct Misperceptions About Nicotine
Study type: INTERVENTIONAL
Overall status: COMPLETED
Phase: NA
Conditions: Beliefs
Lead sponsor: Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health
Sponsor class: OTHER
First posted: 2021-11-22
Enrollment: 193
Sex: ALL
Minimum age (years): 21
Maximum age (years): 99
Standard ages: ADULT
OLDER_ADULT
Accepts healthy volunteers: no
Allocation: RANDOMIZED
Intervention model: FACTORIAL
Intervention model description: Participants will be randomized to view one of four messages. The message conditions are as follows: condition 1 will not contain either component of coherence; condition 2 will contain one element of coherence (a causal explanation for why the corrective information is accurate); condition 3 will contain the other element of coherence (an explanation for why the misinformation came to be believed); condition 4 will include both elements of coherence.
Primary purpose: OTHER

Brief summary: This study seeks to assess the efficacy of educational messages to correct misperceptions. A large proportion of the American population incorrectly believes that nicotine is the chemical responsible for causing cancer in tobacco products.1-3 This misconception may reduce the likelihood that established smokers who are unwilling or unable to quit tobacco product use completely will switch to less harmful non-combustible products. An online experiment will be used to test if corrective messages can reduce this misperception. The experiment will also test the effects of messages on beliefs about the relative harms of other tobacco products discussed in the message and accuracy of inferential beliefs. This will be accomplished by asking participants questions about two tobacco products that are not explicitly discussed in the messages. The experiment will test if the two components of "narrative coherence," a concept identified in previous reviews of misperception correction as effective,4-6 is effective at reducing misperceptions about nicotine. Component 1 provides an explanation for why the new information is correct and component 2 provides an explanation for how the false information came to be believed. This study will use a factorial design to test the efficacy of the component of coherence individually as well as together. Hypotheses and Research Questions:

RQ1: Will participants exposed to different corrective message conditions differ in increased accuracy of beliefs (a) that nicotine does not cause cancer, (b) regarding the relative risk of e-cigarettes compared to cigarettes, (c) regarding the relative risk of very low nicotine cigarettes (VLNC) compared to cigarettes and (d) regarding the relative risk of nicotine replacement therapy compared to cigarettes.

H1: Participants exposed to the nicotine corrective message with both components of coherence will be significantly more likely to increase accuracy of beliefs regarding the relative harms of (a) smokeless tobacco compared to cigarettes and (b) cigarillos relative to cigarettes compared to those exposed to messages with just one component or no components of coherence.

H2: Participants exposed to the nicotine corrective message with both components of coherence will be significantly more likely to increase their intention to switch completely to a noncombustible product compared to those exposed to messages with just one component or no components of coherence.


Eligibility criteria: Inclusion Criteria:

* Are established smokers (have smoked at least 100 cigarettes in their lifetime and currently smoke some or all days)
* Are 21 years of age or older (the legal age of tobacco purchase in the US)
* Have not completed the cognitive interview during message pre-testing.
* Rate their agreement with the following statement as at least 50 out of 100: "To what extent do you agree with the following statement: The substance nicotine causes cancer."
* Are registered with MTurk in the United States.
* Have completed \>= 5,000 HIITs within the MTurk system
* Have a HIIT approval rating of \>= 97%

Exclusion Criteria:

* Are not established smokers
* Are younger than 21 years of age
* Participated in cognitive interviews during message pre-testing
* Are not registered with MTurk in the US
* Have completed \< 5,000 HIITS
* Have a HIIT approval rating of \<97%
* Rate their agreement with the following statement as less than 50 out of 100: "To what extent do you agree with the following statement: The substance nicotine causes cancer."

Primary outcomes:
measure: Change in Accuracy of Belief That Nicotine Causes Cancer
timeFrame: Baseline and up to 5 minutes after receiving the corrective message
measure: Change in Relative Harm Beliefs Regarding E-cigarettes
timeFrame: Baseline and up to 5 minutes after receiving the corrective message
measure: Change in Relative Harm Beliefs Regarding NRT
timeFrame: Baseline and up to 5 minutes after receiving the corrective message
measure: Change in Relative Harm Beliefs Regarding Very Low Nicotine Cigarettes
timeFrame: Baseline and up to 5 minutes after receiving the corrective message
measure: Change in Inferential Beliefs Regarding Smokeless Tobacco
timeFrame: Baseline and up to 5 minutes after receiving the corrective message
measure: Change in Inferential Beliefs Regarding Cigarillos
timeFrame: Baseline and up to 5 minutes after receiving the corrective message
measure: Change in Beliefs About Intention to Switch Products
timeFrame: Baseline and up to 5 minutes after receiving the corrective message
Secondary outcomes:
Other outcomes:
Locations:
city: Baltimore
country: United States
facility: Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health
state: Maryland
Study officials:
affiliation: Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health
name: Meghan B Moran, PhD
role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR
References: