Bihar School Teachers Study

Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH)945 enrolled

Overview

BRIEF SUMMARY: This study, which is closed to enrollment, is testing the efficacy of a tobacco-control intervention geared towards school teachers in Bihar, India. This cluster randomized trial aims to promote tobacco use cessation among teachers and increase tobacco policy adoption in 72 Bihar schools. Teachers are the focus of the study because as role models for youth and key opinion leaders related to community norms, they represent an important group for tobacco control. Teachers in Bihar also have reported high rates of tobacco use. According to the Global School Personnel Survey conducted in 2006, 39% of teachers in the eastern region of India (which includes Bihar) use some form of tobacco, compared to the national average of 29%. This study aims to reduce these numbers through discussion groups with teachers, individual cessation counseling, educational materials, and a tobacco policy workgroup in each intervention school. This study is a collaboration between US researchers and researchers at the Healis-Sekhsaria Institute for Public Health, Mumbai India.

Study Type

INTERVENTIONAL

Allocation

RANDOMIZED

Purpose

PREVENTION

Masking

NONE

Enrollment

945

Conditions

Tobacco Use Cessation

Interventions

A 7-month intervention was conducted over one academic year \& included the following core components: 1. A Lead Teacher (LT) in each school was appointed and trained to facilitate the program on-site; 2. A tobacco policy was implemented; 3. Study health educators and LTs conducted group discussions with teachers addressing 6 intervention themes; 4. Materials; 5. Support for tobacco use cessation. Schools randomized to delayed intervention control condition did not receive any intervention until after final data collection, when they were given a 3-month shortened intervention.

Outcomes

Primary Outcomes

6-month abstinence from tobacco

Time frame: assessed 9-months post-intervention

Secondary Outcomes

Adoption of a school tobacco policy

Time frame: 9-month post-intervention

short-term tobacco use cessation

Time frame: Average of 3 weeks post-intervention