Muslim communities learning about second-hand smoke: a pilot cluster randomised controlled trial and...

Area of Science:

• Public Health
• Community Interventions
• Health Disparities

Background:

• Higher smoking rates in UK Pakistani and Bangladeshi men increase SHS exposure risk for non-smokers.
• Targeting vulnerable populations for SHS reduction is crucial.

Purpose of the Study:

• To pilot a Smoke-free Homes (SFH) intervention in Islamic settings for Pakistani and Bangladeshi families.
• To assess the feasibility, effectiveness, and cost-effectiveness of the SFH intervention.

Main Methods:

• Randomized controlled trial design with Islamic religious settings as clusters.
• Recruitment of households with at least one smoker and one non-smoker.
• Measurement of second-hand smoke exposure using salivary cotinine levels.

Main Results:

• Successful recruitment and retention of 213 households and 7 intervention clusters.
• No statistically significant difference in salivary cotinine levels between intervention and control groups.
• Intervention cost averaged £18.18 per household.

Conclusions:

• Recruitment and retention in community settings are feasible.
• The primary outcome measure (salivary cotinine) requires re-evaluation for future definitive trials.
• Further refinement of the SFH intervention is needed to demonstrate effectiveness.