Posted 15 Apr, 2018
Researchers from Cancer Council Victoria and Queen Mary University of London are on the hunt for smokers and ex-smokers to take part in a first of its kind study into how to help people stay quit for good.
The Relapse Prevention Trial is recruiting more than 700 participants across Australia in a bid to test tools that may help ex-smokers manage temptations and stay smoke-free for life.
Quit Victoria Director Dr Sarah White said relapse is a common part of quitting for the majority of smokers.
“Research shows that 70% of people who quit smoking for a month will have relapsed within one year. However, there has been little research into how we can help quitters reduce their risk of relapse using things like nicotine replacement therapy, online support services, text messages with quitting tips and advice and other tools,” Dr White said.
Study participants are being asked to use a variety of tools and services across a one year period and record whether they relapse or stay quit.
“We know the vast majority of smokers want to quit and about half will try to quit every year. For some people, quitting is easy, but for some it’s pretty hard. We want to do everything we can to help,” Dr White said.
“Smoking kills more than 15,000 Australians every year and causes thousands more to suffer from significant smoking-related illnesses. The findings from this international study have the potential to improve the health and wellbeing of hundreds of thousands of Australians.”
Recruitment for the Relapse Prevention Trial is open now until June this year. Sign up for the study here: http://www.rpstudy.org.au/. You can contact the study team on rpstudy@cancervic.org.au.
For help quitting smoking, visit the Quit website http://www.quit.org.au or call the Quitline on 13 7848.
Quit Victoria is a partnership between VicHealth, Cancer Council Victoria, the State Government of Victoria and the Heart Foundation.