Protocol for a randomised pragmatic policy trial of nicotine products for quitting or long-term substitution in smokers

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Smoking is Australia's leading preventable cause of premature mortality and a major contributor to the national disease burden. If quit rates do not dramatically improve, then smoking will continue to be a major public health issue for decades to come. Harm-reduction approaches using novel nicotine products like e-cigarettes as long term replacements for smoking have the potential to improve quit rates. However, little research has assessed such approaches. DESIGN: Three-arm parallel-group pragmatic randomised controlled trial. PARTICIPANTS: People living in Australia who are at least 18 years old, smoke five or more cigarettes per day and are willing to try a sample of nicotine ..