Key result
New RCT protocol evaluates digital health promotion for emergency department lifestyle modification.
Why the study?
Noncommunicable diseases are the leading cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide, and proactive prevention strategies are vital to reduce their burden by addressing major risk factors.
Does a proactive health promotion intervention based on self-determination theory improve the adoption of healthy lifestyles in adult emergency department attendees?
RCT (n=1,172)
1:1
Yes
Does a proactive health promotion intervention based on self-determination theory improve the adoption of healthy lifestyles in adult emergency department attendees?
Answers are grounded in this paper and cite their sources.
This study protocol outlines a pragmatic randomized controlled trial to evaluate whether a brief telephone and messaging intervention can effectively promote healthy lifestyle adoption among emergency department attendees to prevent non-communicable diseases.
Noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) have become the leading contributors to morbidity and mortality worldwide, responsible for 74% of all deaths. The major risk factors that substantially contribute to and significantly increase the risk of dying from NCDs include tobacco and alcohol use, unhealthy diet, and physical inactivity. Proactive prevention strategies are vital in reducing the burden. Presenting at the emergency department (ED) can be an excellent "teachable moment" to intervene for unhealthy behaviors because people seeking medical treatment from doctors at EDs may be more motivated to adopt healthy lifestyles. We aim to examine the effectiveness of a general health promotion intervention based on self-determination theory in helping ED attendees adopt a healthy lifestyle. A randomized clinical trial will be conducted on Chinese adults aged ≥18 years attending the EDs of five major acute care hospitals in Hong Kong. Participants will be randomized 1:1 into intervention and control groups (n = 586 per group). Intervention group will receive a brief telephone intervention using the AWARD (Ask, Warn, Advise, Refer and Do-it-again) model, weekly personalized instant messages and four 1-minute videos focused on the desired behaviors via WeChat/WhatsApp, and follow-up assessments of behavior changes at 3, 6, and 12 months. While control group will receive similar brief intervention which only advises them to adopt a healthy lifestyle, similar number of SMS messages containing only general health advice, and follow-up assessments at same schedule with the intervention group. Outcome measures include the composite event rate of adopting at least one of the four healthy lifestyles at 6 (primary outcome) and 12 months measured by a behavioral risk-factor questionnaire and improvement in health-related quality of life at 6 and 12 months measured by the EuroQoL 5-Dimension 5-level (EQ-5D-5L) questionnaire. Ethical approval has been obtained. This trial is registered at ClinicalTrials.gov on March 17, 2025: NCT06889792.
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Li et al. (2025) conducted an RCT in Non-communicable diseases prevention (n=1,172). General health promotion intervention based on self-determination theory vs. Brief intervention advising healthy lifestyle and general health advice SMS was evaluated on Composite event rate of adopting at least one of the four healthy lifestyles at 6 months. This study protocol describes a randomized controlled trial to evaluate a general health promotion intervention for helping emergency department attendees adopt healthy lifestyles.
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