Rationale and Design of a Randomized Controlled Trial to Evaluate the Effectiveness of Medical Student Counseling for Hospitalized Patients Addicted to Tobacco (the MS-CHAT Trial)

Globally, India is the second largest consumer of tobacco. However, Indian medical students do not receive adequate training in smoking cessation counseling. Each patient hospitalization is an opportunity to counsel smokers. Medical Student Counseling for Hospitalized patients Addicted to Tobacco (MS-CHAT) is a 2-arm multicenter randomized controlled trial (RCT) that compares the effectiveness of a medical student-guided smoking cessation program initiated in inpatients and continued for two months after discharge versus standard hospital practice. Current smokers admitted to the hospital are randomized to receive either usual care or the intervention. The intervention group receives inpatient counseling and longitudinal postdischarge telephone follow-up by medical students. The control group receives counseling at the discretion of the treating physician. The primary outcome is biochemically verified 7-day point prevalence of smoking cessation at 6 months after enrollment. Changes in medical student knowledge and attitude will also be studied using a pre- and postquestionnaire delivered prior to and 12 months after training. This trial tests a unique model that seeks to provide hands-on experience in smoking cessation counseling to medical students while simultaneously improving cessation outcomes among hospitalized smokers in India.