Peer-delivery of a gender-specific smoking cessation intervention for women living in disadvantaged communities in Ireland We Can Quit2 (WCQ2): a pilot cluster randomized controlled trial

Introduction. The We Can Quit2 (WCQ2) pilot trial assessed the feasibility of ‘We Can Quit’ (WCQ), a community-based stop-smoking programme delivered by trained community facilitators, based on the socio-ecological framework and developed using a Community-based Participatory Research approach, targeting women living in socioeconomically disadvantaged (SED) areas of Ireland.
Methods. A pragmatic cluster RCT with a process evaluation was conducted in four matched pairs of SED districts (8-10,000 women per district). Districts were independently randomised to WCQ (group support + nicotine replacement therapy), or to individual support delivered by health professionals. Participants were adult women smokers interested in quitting, living or working in trial districts. Recruitment of districts and 194 women in four waves (49 women per wave); retention at 12-weeks and 6-months; fidelity to intervention delivery and acceptability of trial-related processes were assessed. Validated smoking abstinence at 12-week and 6-months post-intervention was recorded, missing data assumed as continued smoking.