A brief digital screening tool to address parental and adolescent tobacco and electronic cigarette use in pediatric medical care in Canada: a pilot randomized-controlled trial

Background Tobacco use is a strong risk factor for premature mortality and morbidity. We assessed the feasibility of screening and recruiting participants for a randomized controlled trial (RCT) of a facilitated referral intervention to promote smoking and vaping cessation among parents and children (CanCEASE). Methods We conducted a pilot RCT of CanCEASE in 5 outpatient pediatric clinics in Montreal, Canada. We recruited parents (≥ 18 years) and adolescents (14–17 years) who reported smoking or vaping in the 7 days prior to recruitment. Our primary outcome was the number of participants recruited and randomized per day of recruitment. Secondary outcomes include interest in cessation resources and participant retention. Descriptive statistics are presented, and outcomes are compared between parent and adolescent participants using chi-square tests. Results There were 118 days of recruitment across 5 clinics spread over 95 calendar days, resulting in enrollment of 53 adolescents and 74 parents in the study, with the majority being female. Recruitment rates were 0.56 participant/day of recruitment for adolescents and 0.78 participant/day of recruitment for parents. Interest in specific cessation resources was low overall. Retention rate at 6 months was 52.8% (95% confidence interval: 43.7–61.6), and higher among adolescents (vs. parents) and females (vs. males). Conclusions Our study demonstrated the feasibility of screening and recruiting parents and adolescents for a smoking and vaping cessation trial. However, strategies to increase interest in cessation resources and retention rates would improve the odds of success of an effectiveness trial. ClinicalTrials.gov ID : NCT05366790