The effect of a clinic-based behavioral intervention in promoting enrolment in a text-message tobacco cessation program at a rural primary health clinic in Delhi, India

INTRODUCTION: The mCessation is a text-message service for quitting tobacco in India, associated with high quit rates but low rates of enrolment. We determined if a brief behavioral intervention package (BBPMC) can promote the enrolment of male tobacco users in the mCessation program (MCP) METHODS: We conducted a quasi-experimental study (single-arm) at a rural primary health clinic in Delhi, India, January–April 2019. We enrolled adult male current tobacco users after screening for eligibility. A trained medical physician administered the BBPMC explaining to patients the major health risks causally associated with tobacco use, along with information on the MCP and the way to register for the service. RESULTS: We recruited a total of 159 tobacco users, mean age 44.5 years (SD=14.3) with median tobacco use duration of 15 years. After administration of the BBPMC, 50 (31.2%) participants registered with the MCP program on-site. On an adjusted analysis, tobacco users with a preexisting intention to quit were three times more likely to enroll in the MCP. CONCLUSIONS: Physicians and other healthcare providers in Indian outpatient health settings should utilize BBPMC like interventions that are easily scalable, require no specialized training, and and allow them to fulfill their obligation to provide a readily accessible tobacco cessation service to their patients.