Can a brief chat and an app help millions quit tobacco?
NCT ID NCT05234983
First seen Jun 27, 2026 · Last updated Jun 27, 2026
Summary
This study tested a simple, low-cost program to help adults stop using tobacco in busy community health centers in Mumbai, India. Nearly 4,700 participants received either brief advice from trained health workers or usual care. The program used a mobile app and WhatsApp to support workers, aiming to make quitting easier without expensive medications.
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Study facts
What this study's own registry entry says, in plain language.
- Phase
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Not a phased trial
Phase numbers describe drug development. The registry uses this when they do not apply, as it does for trials of devices, procedures or behaviour changes, and for observational studies.
- Participants
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4,693 people
The number who actually took part.
- Started
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Nov 2023
- Finished
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Sep 2025
- Lead sponsor
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Other sponsor
The registry's catch-all category, for sponsors it does not file as a company, a government agency, or a research network.
Who can take part
This study's own entry requirements. Only the study team can say for certain whether you qualify.
- Ages
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18 years and older
- Sex
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Anyone
- Healthy volunteers
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Not accepted
This study is not open to healthy volunteers. The entry requirements below say who it is open to.
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Copied word for word from the study's registry entry, so the wording is the study team's rather than ours.
Inclusion Criteria: Practitioner inclusion criteria: * targeted workers from targeted settings * sufficient language proficiency in English and/or Hindi to attend the training and take surveys * has not received prior in-depth LifeFirst training * can recruit 10-60 tobacco users in a six-month period * works in a setting in which brief advice can be added to the workflow * delivers care in Greater Mumbai and expects to do so for one year post-training * can secure institutional signoff to participate and utilize the program in practice * has an Android smartphone Patient inclusion criteria: * user of smokeless and / or smoked tobacco * age 18 and over * attending the practice of an enrolled practitioner * has a mobile phone (required for data collection) * does not have another member of their household participating in the study * is not currently participating in any tobacco cessation program (such as through the National Quitline) Exclusion Criteria: Practitioner exclusion criteria: * does not work in one of the targeted settings * works in one of the targeted settings but is not a targeted worker * does not have sufficient language proficiency in English and/or Hindi to attend the training and take surveys * has received prior in-depth LifeFirst training * cannot recruit 36 tobacco users in a six-month period * does not work in a setting in which brief advice can be added to the workflow * does not deliver care in Greater Mumbai * delivers care in Greater Mumbai but does not expect to do so for one year post-training * cannot secure institutional signoff to participate and utilize the program in practice * does not have an Android smartphone Patient exclusion criteria: * not a user of smokeless or smoked tobacco * under age 18 * does not attend the practice of an enrolled practitioner * does not have a mobile phone * has another member of their household participating in the study * is currently participating in any tobacco cessation program (such as through the National Quitline)
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Conditions
The condition(s) this trial relates to.
As listed by the trial registrant
The condition terms exactly as the trial's registrant entered them.
Contacts and locations
Locations
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Narotam Sekhsaria Foundation
Mumbai, Maharashtra, 400 021, India
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Other studies related to the condition(s) this trial covers.
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