TB patients learning about second hand smoke (TBLASS): a pilot individual randomised controlled trial

BACKGROUND Living with a smoker is a key determinant of exposure to Second Hand Smoke (SHS) and its exposure mainly occurs at home. Exposure to SHS from tobacco in the household predisposes to the development of tuberculosis (TB) and outcome of the disease gets worse. We aim to develop and evaluate a behavioural intervention 'Smoke Free Homes' (SFH) for TB patients that encourages them to negotiate a smoke free environment within their homes. METHODS AND DESIGN The pilot individual randomised controlled trial of SFH will inform the design of a future definitive trial. We will first develop SFH intervention using taxonomy of behaviour change techniques aimed at encouraging families of non-smoking TB patients to implement smoking restrictions at home following a logic model of the intervention. This will be followed by conducting a pilot randomised controlled trial of intervention within the context of routine TB control programme. The eligible non-smoking TB patients will be randomised and allocated to one of the two trial arms consisting of "individual based care" and "individual based care" plus "supplementary support". We aim to recruit 150 newly registered pulmonary TB patients from two selected TB centres with 75 cases in each arm. The Primary outcome measure will be SFH of non-smoker TB patient by validating through 'Urine Cotinine' test. We will also determine qualitatively the barriers and key drivers to the creation of smoke free homes followed by developing a definitive trial. DISCUSSION The male to female distribution of TB cases in Pakistan is almost equal whereas, tobacco use among males is much high as compared to females in Pakistan. This reflects a strong possibility that women health can be affected by men behaviour. Appropriate storage, restricted access and disposal arrangements for participant's personal details will be implemented. All ethical issues will be addressed. There will be no extra burden, financial or otherwise, on the participants. They will not receive any financial incentive to participate in the study. TRIAL REGISTRATION TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER ISRCTN83630841.