Tobacco PreventionNCT07453745
Effectiveness of Comics to Promote Tobacco-related Knowledge, Attitudes and Behaviours Among Primary School Students
A study testing Tobacco-related comics and Conventional health leaflet in people with Tobacco Prevention, run by The University of Hong Kong at 1 site in Hong Kong.
Trial summary
The goal of this pilot RCT is to evaluate the effectiveness of comics containing tobacco-related content in improving tobacco-related knowledge and attitudes among Hong Kong primary school students. The main questions it aims to answer are: Is the intervention (i.e. Read more about this study
- Who is it for?
- Ages 9 to 14 yearsHealthy volunteers can take part
- Conditions the study is for
- Tobacco Prevention
- What is being tested?
- Tobacco-related comics and Conventional health leaflet
- Could I receive a placebo?
- No, everyone receives an active treatment
- How many people
- 1,000 participants
- Where
- 1 siteHong Kong
- Study dates
- 20 Apr 2026to 31 Aug 2026
- Phase
- Interventional
- Are there results?
- Not yet: the study is under way
Key requirements
Who can take part, as listed by the sponsor. Only the study team can confirm whether you are eligible, so take this list to your doctor.
- Ages 9 to 14 years
- All sexes
- Healthy volunteers accepted
- Child
Who may be able to join
- Primary 5-6 students from local primary schools
- Able to read Chinese
Who cannot join
- None
Trial locations and contacts
1 site in 1 country.
About this study
Official title: A Pilot Randomised Controlled Trial (RCT) on the Effectiveness of Comics to Promote Tobacco-Related Knowledge, Attitudes and Behaviours Among Primary School Students
The goal of this pilot RCT is to evaluate the effectiveness of comics containing tobacco-related content in improving tobacco-related knowledge and attitudes among Hong Kong primary school students. The main questions it aims to answer are:
- Is the intervention (i.e. comics) effective in improving tobacco-related knowledge (including alternative smoking products (ASPs) and tobacco control development in the world and Hong Kong) compared to controls (i.e. information sheets)?
- Is the intervention (i.e.comics) effective in improving tobacco-related attitudes and intentions (including ASPs and tobacco control development in the world and Hong Kong) compared to controls (i.e. information sheets)?
Researchers will compare the questionnaire results from students to see if intervention groups (students reading comics) will have better tobacco-related knowledge, higher anti-tobacco attitudes and lower intention to smoke compared to the control group (students reading information sheets).
- Conditions
- Tobacco Prevention
- Being tested
- Tobacco-related comics, Conventional health leaflet
- Keywords
- Tobacco prevention, Health literacy, Non-pharmaceutical intervention, Children
What participants receive
What participants receive. In a randomised study each person is assigned to one group by chance.
Tobacco-related comicsOther
A series of five comics are developed specifically for this study. The comics will address five key themes which we found could be reinforced based on our previous project. This includes [1] the harms of tobacco use, [2] secondhand smoke (SHS), [3] thirdhand smoke (THS), [4] alternative smoking products (ASPs), and [5] the tobacco industry and tobacco-related policies in Hong Kong and worldwide.
Conventional health leafletOther
The selected leaflets will be based on information from existing tobacco prevention leaflets routinely distributed by the Tobacco and Alcohol Control Office and the Student Health Service and specifically targeting students.
| Study group | Role | What they receive |
|---|---|---|
| Intervention | Experimental | Intervention group students will receive a series of five tobacco-related comics during the 2-week study period. Receives: Other: Tobacco-related comics |
| Control | Active comparator | Control group students will receive five conventional health leaflets or related educational materials. Receives: Other: Conventional health leaflet |
What is being measured
The primary outcome is the main question the study is designed to answer.
Effectiveness of intervention on tobacco-related knowledge (including ASPs and tobacco control development in the world and Hong Kong)
Students reported their opinions towards 5 statements in both pre-test and post-test:
- Smoking accelerates skin ageing; 2) Secondhand smoke can trigger asthma and middle ear infections in children; 3) Opening windows or using a fan can eliminate the effects of thirdhand smoke; 4) E-cigarettes with added flavors are harmless to the body; 5) Hong Kong prohibits smoking while queuing for public transport.
Questions may be subject to change, as they will be adjusted according to the leaflets/comics, while maintaining a similar format.
Students' knowledge will be assessed using a 3-point Likert scale, with each item rated on a 3-point Likert scale ranging from -1 (wrong) to 1 (correct).
Measured: Right before the intervention and at 12-16th days
Effectiveness of intervention on tobacco-related attitudes (including ASPs and tobacco control development in the world and Hong Kong)
Students will report their opinions towards 5 statements: 1) Banning smoking in all places would harm smokers' rights; 2) I will actively avoid secondhand smoke; 3) Using e-cigarettes is safer than smoking traditional cigarettes; 4) Tobacco companies use various methods to encourage people to smoke; 5) The government should ban the sale of flavored smoking products.
Questions may be subject to change, as they will be adjusted according to the leaflets/comics, while maintaining a similar format.
Students' attitudes will be assessed using a 5-point Likert scale, with each item rated on a 5-point Likert scale ranging from 1 (Strongly disagree) to 5 (Strongly agree). Item scores will be recoded as appropriate, so that higher scores consistently reflect more negative attitudes.
Measured: Right before the intervention and at 12-16th days.
Effectiveness of intervention on tobacco-related intentions (including ASPs and tobacco control development in the world and Hong Kong)
Students were asked: If one of your good friends offers you a traditional cigarette, e-cigarette or heated tobacco product, ask you to have a few puffs, and no one will know about this as no more smoking in the future. Will you use them?
Students' intention will be assessed using a 5-point Likert scale, with each item rated on a 5-point Likert scale ranging from 1 (Definitely no) to 5 (Definitely yes). Lower scores indicate a lower intention to use ASPs.
Measured: Right before the intervention and at 12-16th days.
Secondary outcomes (4)
Effectiveness of intervention on SHS and THS exposure at home
Students were asked: In the past 7 days, how many days (0-7) 1) was someone smoking next to you when you were at home? 2) do you smell secondhand smoke drifting in from outside when you were at home? 3) was someone smoking next to you when you were outside home? 4) you can smell cigarette smoke on objects or people when you are at home and no one is smoking, and you don't see any smoke?
Each item was rated on an 8-point scale ranging from 0 (0 days) to 7 (7 days), with higher scores indicating more frequent exposure to secondhand smoke (i.e., a worse outcome).
Measured: Right before the intervention and at 12-16th days.
Effectiveness of intervention on tobacco use
Students were asked: 1) Which of the following tobacco products have you ever used? 2) In the past 30 days, which of the following tobacco products have you used?
Measured: Right before the intervention and at 12-16th days.
Adherence to the 5-day intervention
Students will report their adherence to the intervention. Students were asked: In the past two weeks, how many comics / leaflets did you read in total?
Measured: At 12-16th days
Satisfaction of students towards intervention
Students were aksed:
- Do you find the content of the comics / leaflets engaging?
- Do you think the content of the comics / leaflets is easy to understand?
- What do you think about the length of the comic/leaflet?
- If the comics / leaflets include more new information about tobacco in the future, would you like to read them?
Measured: At 12-16th days
Timeline
From the start of the study to its completion; the mark is today. Estimated dates are the sponsor’s plan.
- First posted6 Mar 2026
- Study start20 Apr 2026
- Primary completion31 Jul 2026 (estimated)
- Study completion31 Aug 2026 (estimated)
Resources
- Official record on ClinicalTrials.govThe registry entry this page is built from, with its full change history.
- Other trials for Tobacco PreventionStudies of the same condition, open and under way.
- More trials run by The University of Hong KongThe sponsor's other registered studies.
- What the trial phases meanHow a treatment moves from first tests in people to approval.
More details
For doctors and researchers: how the study is designed, who runs it, and its registry IDs.
Study design
- Study type
- Interventional
- Phase
- Phase N/A
- Primary purpose
- Prevention
- Allocation
- Randomised
- Intervention model
- Parallel groups
- Masking
- None (open label)
- Enrolment
- 1,000 participants (estimated)
Sponsor and investigators
- Lead sponsor
- The University of Hong Kong
- Sponsor type
- University, hospital or other
- Collaborators
- Hong Kong Council on Smoking and Health
- Responsible party
- Principal investigator, Au Yeung, Shiu Lun Ryan, The University of Hong Kong
- Investigators
- Shiu Lun Ryan Au Yeung, Principal investigator, School of Public Health, The University of Hong Kong
IDs, dates and publications
- ClinicalTrials.gov ID
- NCT07453745
- Sponsor's protocol ID
- coshrct2526
- Status last verified
- Apr 2026
- First submitted
- 27 Feb 2026
- Last updated
- 4 May 2026
- Results posted
- No
- Data monitoring committee
- No
- FDA-regulated drug
- No
- FDA-regulated device
- No
- Individual data sharing
- Yes: De-identified individual participant data underlying the results in this article, including text, tables, figures, and appendices, along with the study protocol and statistical analysis plan, will be available for sharing. Data access will be granted starting three months after publication and will remain available for up to five years. Researchers with a methodologically sound proposal aligned with the approved study objectives may request access by contacting the principal investigator(PI) (Ryan Au Yeung) at ayslryan@hku.hk. Approved data requestors will be required to sign a data-access agreement.
Study at a glance
From the registry record, last updated by the sponsor on 4 May 2026. Recruitment status is as the sponsor reported it: confirm with the study team.
- Official title
- A Pilot Randomised Controlled Trial (RCT) on the Effectiveness of Comics to Promote Tobacco-Related Knowledge, Attitudes and Behaviours Among Primary School Students
- ClinicalTrials.gov ID
- NCT07453745
- Acronym / sponsor ID
- coshrct2526
- Conditions
- Tobacco Prevention
- Keywords
- Tobacco prevention, Health literacy, Non-pharmaceutical intervention, Children
- Study type
- Interventional
- Recruitment status
- Active, not recruiting
- Enrolment
- 1,000 participants (estimated)
- Lead sponsor
- The University of Hong KongUniversity, hospital or other
- Collaborators
- Hong Kong Council on Smoking and Health
- Study start
- 20 Apr 2026 (actual)
- Primary completion
- 31 Jul 2026 (estimated)
- Study completion
- 31 Aug 2026 (estimated)
- First posted
- 6 Mar 2026 (actual)
- Results
- Not posted in the source record
Clinical summary
The research question as the sponsor registered it. This describes what the study plans to test, not what it found.
The goal of this pilot RCT is to evaluate the effectiveness of comics containing tobacco-related content in improving tobacco-related knowledge and attitudes among Hong Kong primary school students. The main questions it aims to answer are:
- Is the intervention (i.e. comics) effective in improving tobacco-related knowledge (including alternative smoking products (ASPs) and tobacco control development in the world and Hong Kong) compared to controls (i.e. information sheets)?
- Is the intervention (i.e.comics) effective in improving tobacco-related attitudes and intentions (including ASPs and tobacco control development in the world and Hong Kong) compared to controls (i.e. information sheets)?
Researchers will compare the questionnaire results from students to see if intervention groups (students reading comics) will have better tobacco-related knowledge, higher anti-tobacco attitudes and lower intention to smoke compared to the control group (students reading information sheets).
Study design
- Primary purpose
- Prevention
- Allocation
- Randomised
- Intervention model
- Parallel groups
- Masking
- None (open label)
- Number of arms
- 2
| Arm | Type | Receives |
|---|---|---|
| Intervention | Experimental | Other: Tobacco-related comicsIntervention group students will receive a series of five tobacco-related comics during the 2-week study period. |
| Control | Active comparator | Other: Conventional health leafletControl group students will receive five conventional health leaflets or related educational materials. |
Who may qualify
- Ages
- 9 to 14 years
- Sex
- All
- Healthy volunteers
- Accepted
- Age groups
- Child
Key inclusion criteria (2 listed)
- Primary 5-6 students from local primary schools
- Able to read Chinese
Key exclusion criteria (1 listed)
- None
Eligibility is decided by the study team after screening; this overview does not establish that a patient qualifies. Full inclusion and exclusion criteria.
Interventions
| Intervention | Type | Arms |
|---|---|---|
| Tobacco-related comicsA series of five comics are developed specifically for this study. The comics will address five key themes which we found could be reinforced based on our previous project. This includes [1] the harms of tobacco use, [2] secondhand smoke (SHS), [3] thirdhand smoke (THS), [4] alternative smoking products (ASPs), and [5] the tobacco industry and tobacco-related policies in Hong Kong and worldwide. | Other | Intervention |
| Conventional health leafletThe selected leaflets will be based on information from existing tobacco prevention leaflets routinely distributed by the Tobacco and Alcohol Control Office and the Student Health Service and specifically targeting students. | Other | Control |
Primary outcome
Effectiveness of intervention on tobacco-related knowledge (including ASPs and tobacco control development in the world and Hong Kong)
Time frame: Right before the intervention and at 12-16th days
Students reported their opinions towards 5 statements in both pre-test and post-test: 1) Smoking accelerates skin ageing; 2) Secondhand smoke can trigger asthma and middle ear infections in children; 3) Opening windows or using a fan can eliminate the effects of thirdhand smoke; 4) E-cigarettes with added flavors are harmless to the body; 5) Hong Kong prohibits smoking while queuing for public transport. Questions may be subject to change, as they will be adjusted according to the leaflets/comics, while maintaining a similar format. Students' knowledge will be assessed using a 3-point Likert scale, with each item rated on a 3-point Likert scale ranging from -1 (wrong) to 1 (correct).
Effectiveness of intervention on tobacco-related attitudes (including ASPs and tobacco control development in the world and Hong Kong)
Time frame: Right before the intervention and at 12-16th days.
Students will report their opinions towards 5 statements: 1) Banning smoking in all places would harm smokers' rights; 2) I will actively avoid secondhand smoke; 3) Using e-cigarettes is safer than smoking traditional cigarettes; 4) Tobacco companies use various methods to encourage people to smoke; 5) The government should ban the sale of flavored smoking products. Questions may be subject to change, as they will be adjusted according to the leaflets/comics, while maintaining a similar format. Students' attitudes will be assessed using a 5-point Likert scale, with each item rated on a 5-point Likert scale ranging from 1 (Strongly disagree) to 5 (Strongly agree). Item scores will be recoded as appropriate, so that higher scores consistently reflect more negative attitudes.
Effectiveness of intervention on tobacco-related intentions (including ASPs and tobacco control development in the world and Hong Kong)
Time frame: Right before the intervention and at 12-16th days.
Students were asked: If one of your good friends offers you a traditional cigarette, e-cigarette or heated tobacco product, ask you to have a few puffs, and no one will know about this as no more smoking in the future. Will you use them? Students' intention will be assessed using a 5-point Likert scale, with each item rated on a 5-point Likert scale ranging from 1 (Definitely no) to 5 (Definitely yes). Lower scores indicate a lower intention to use ASPs.
4 secondary outcomes
Effectiveness of intervention on SHS and THS exposure at home
Time frame: Right before the intervention and at 12-16th days.
Effectiveness of intervention on tobacco use
Time frame: Right before the intervention and at 12-16th days.
Adherence to the 5-day intervention
Time frame: At 12-16th days
Satisfaction of students towards intervention
Time frame: At 12-16th days
Results and safety
This study is still under way. Results are not available in the source record yet.
Research links
- Official record on ClinicalTrials.govLast updated by the sponsor 4 May 2026.
- Individual participant dataSharing planned: Yes. De-identified individual participant data underlying the results in this article, including text, tables, figures, and appendices, along with the study protocol and statistical analysis plan, will be available for sharing. Data access will be granted starting three months after publication and will remain available for up to five years. Researchers with a methodologically sound proposal aligned with the approved study objectives may request access by contacting the principal investigator(PI) (Ryan Au Yeung) at ayslryan@hku.hk. Approved data requestors will be required to sign a data-access agreement.
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Referral and contact
AzTrials does not enrol participants or take referrals. Contact the study team or a site listed below; they decide who can take part. This study is not recruiting at the moment.
Shiu Lun Ryan Au Yeung principal investigator
School of Public Health, The University of Hong Kong
1 site in 1 country: see every site and its status.
Questions about this trial
What is this clinical trial studying?
A study testing Tobacco-related comics and Conventional health leaflet in people with Tobacco Prevention, run by The University of Hong Kong at 1 site in Hong Kong.
The full registered description is in the About this study section and the official record.
Who may be eligible to take part?
The sponsor lists 2 inclusion and 1 exclusion criteria. Eligibility is decided by the study team after screening, so read the full criteria and contact a listed site.
Is this clinical trial currently recruiting?
The record says: under way, not looking for participants, as of the sponsor's last update on 4 May 2026. Status can change between updates, so confirm with the study contact before making plans.
Where is the study taking place?
The record lists 1 site in Hong Kong. Whether a site is taking part right now should be confirmed with that site. See every site.
What are the possible benefits and risks?
They depend on the study and the treatment, and no study can promise a benefit. The study team explains the known risks during informed consent, before anyone joins; the record itself does not list them.
Are results available for this study?
This study is still under way. Results are not available in the source record yet.
How can a doctor refer a patient or contact the research team?
The record lists no contact. The official record names the sponsor, who can be asked directly. AzTrials does not enrol participants or take referrals.
What does the primary outcome measure?
Effectiveness of intervention on tobacco-related knowledge (including ASPs and tobacco control development in the world and Hong Kong) (time frame: Right before the intervention and at 12-16th days). The study lists 3 primary outcomes in all. It is what the study was designed to measure, not a finding.
Where can I read the original study information?
Does a listing mean the treatment is approved or proven to work?
No. A listing means the study is registered. It does not show that the treatment is safe, works, or is approved by a regulator.
How often is this information updated?
AzTrials copies changed records from ClinicalTrials.gov every night and reloads the whole registry every week. The sponsor last updated this record on 4 May 2026.