~366 spots leftby Feb 2026

Health Warnings for Hookah Smoking

Palo Alto (17 mi)
Overseen byErin Sutfin, PhD
Age: 18+
Sex: Any
Travel: May be covered
Time Reimbursement: Varies
Trial Phase: N/A
Waitlist Available
Sponsor: Wake Forest University Health Sciences
No Placebo Group

Trial Summary

What is the purpose of this trial?This trial tests if health warnings in hookah cafés can reduce smoking. The study targets café customers and uses warnings to make them more aware of the risks, hoping they will smoke less.
Is using health warnings for hookah smoking a promising treatment?Yes, using health warnings for hookah smoking is a promising treatment. Studies show that pictorial health warnings on hookah products can effectively increase awareness of the health risks and encourage people to quit or avoid starting hookah smoking.23567
What safety data exists for health warnings on hookah smoking?Research indicates that pictorial health warning labels (HWLs) on waterpipe (hookah) products are effective in communicating health risks and changing perceptions among young adults. Studies conducted in Lebanon and Tunisia show that pictorial HWLs, especially when placed on multiple parts of the waterpipe, attract attention, increase perceived harm, and may influence smoking intentions. These findings suggest that HWLs can be a promising regulatory strategy to reduce waterpipe smoking and its associated health risks.567810
What data supports the idea that Health Warnings for Hookah Smoking is an effective treatment?The available research shows that pictorial health warnings on waterpipe tobacco products are more effective than text-only warnings. For example, a study in Lebanon found that nonsmokers paid more attention and had stronger reactions to pictorial warnings compared to text-only warnings. This suggests that pictorial warnings can be a powerful tool to prevent young adults from starting to smoke waterpipes. Additionally, similar studies on cigarette packs have shown that pictorial warnings increase the intention to quit smoking more than text-only warnings. This evidence supports the idea that using pictorial health warnings is an effective way to communicate the risks of hookah smoking and encourage people to avoid or quit it.146910
Do I have to stop taking my current medications to join the trial?The trial protocol does not specify whether you need to stop taking your current medications.

Eligibility Criteria

This trial is for English-speaking individuals who plan to smoke hookah at a café and won't smoke cigarettes, cigars, or other tobacco products there. It's not open to those who've been asked to join this study elsewhere.

Treatment Details

The study is testing if health warnings at hookah cafés can make people smoke less compared to no warnings. This will be measured by the change in expired carbon monoxide levels before and after visiting the café.
2Treatment groups
Experimental Treatment
Group I: Intervention - Health WarningsExperimental Treatment1 Intervention
Cafes will display text-only warning signs
Group II: Control - No WarningsExperimental Treatment1 Intervention
No warnings posted in the hookah café

Find a clinic near you

Research locations nearbySelect from list below to view details:
Wake Forest University Health SciencesWinston-Salem, NC
Loading ...

Who is running the clinical trial?

Wake Forest University Health SciencesLead Sponsor
National Cancer Institute (NCI)Collaborator

References

Effectiveness of pictorial health warnings on cigarette packs among Lebanese school and university students. [2022]Pictorial health warnings are more effective than text warnings in enhancing motivation to quit and not to start smoking among youth. In Lebanon, packs still have only a very small text warning. The aim of this study was to evaluate the perceived effectiveness of pictorial health warnings on cigarette packs among Lebanese youth.
Prevalence and correlates of hookah use: a nationally representative sample of US adults ages 18-40 years old. [2022]Hookah use may be increasing among adults in the US. Information on the prevalence and correlates of hookah use in the adult population is relatively limited.
Characteristics of Hookah Tobacco Smoking Sessions and Correlates of Use Frequency Among US Adults: Findings From Wave 1 of the Population Assessment of Tobacco and Health (PATH) Study. [2022]Hookah tobacco smoking has increased in the United States. However, information on hookah use frequency and other characteristics of hookah use is limited.
Image-and-text health warning labels on alcohol and food: potential effectiveness and acceptability. [2020]Health warning labels (HWLs) using images and text to depict the negative health consequences of tobacco consumption are effective and acceptable for changing smoking-related outcomes. There is currently limited evidence concerning their potential use for reducing consumption of alcoholic drinks and energy-dense foods. The aim of this research was to describe the potential effectiveness and acceptability of image-and-text (also known as pictorial or graphic) HWLs applied to: i. alcoholic drinks and ii. energy-dense snack foods.
Waterpipe Warning Placement and Risk Perceptions: An Eye Tracking Study. [2022]Objectives: The purpose of this study was to select a health warning message location on a waterpipe (WP) that both attracted visual attention and conveyed the risks associated with WP smoking. Methods: During June through November 2019, we conducted a within-subjects randomized experiment (N = 74) using eye tracking equipment to examine visual attention to 3 placements of a health warning on the WP (stem, water bowl, hose). We asked young adult ever WP users 3 questions about WP harm perceptions. We used generalized linear mixed models to examine the amount of fixation time spent on the placement locations; we used repeated measures ANOVA to model changes in harm perceptions. Results: There were statistically significant differences across all 3 placement locations; regardless of place, all HWLs attracted a comparable amount of visual attention. Absolute WP harm perceptions significantly increased following the experiment and remained significantly higher at the one-week follow-up, compared to baseline. Conclusions: Warnings on WPs attracted visual attention and increased harm perceptions, and those harm perceptions remained high one week after the experiment. Findings indicate the value of including a warning on the WP device, and underscore the necessity and effectiveness of those health warnings to combat WP harm misperceptions.
Examining the effect of waterpipe specific pictorial health warning labels among young adults in Lebanon and Tunisia: Protocol of a factorial experiment study design. [2023]Waterpipe tobacco smoking (WTS) has increased substantially in the Eastern Mediterranean Region (EMR), affecting young adults who perceive waterpipe as safer than cigarette smoking. Applying pictorial health warning labels (HWLs) on tobacco products has been effective in communicating health risks associated with tobacco smoking. However, there are few experimental studies that examined pictorial HWLs specific to WTS. Methods/design: This report describes the design and protocol of the first factorial experimental study that aims to test the effectiveness of pictorial HWLs based on their placement on waterpipe device, tobacco, and charcoal packages among young adult smokers and non-smokers residing in Lebanon and Tunisia. After completing a baseline assessment, participants will be randomly assigned to 3 experimental conditions in a 3 (HWL: pictorial HWL on tobacco package vs. pictorial HWL on 3 placements [device, tobacco, and charcoal packages] vs. text-only HWL on tobacco package) x 4 (pictorial HWLs) x 2 (waterpipe smokers vs. non-smokers) factorial design. We will use a within/between-subject design, where pictorial HWLs and time (pre vs. post-exposure) are the within-subject factors and waterpipe smoking status as the between-subjects factor. Participants will complete post-exposure measures that include attention, perceived harm, intention to quit (smokers) or initiate smoking (non-smokers). Discussion: This is the first international study examining the placements of pictorial HWLs using efficient within/between subject design. Findings will provide additional evidence to convince policymakers to consider three placements of HWLs specific to WTS as a promising regulatory target to curb WTS.
"Scary and Effective, Definitely Pushes Me to Quit Smoking": Developing Waterpipe Pictorial Health Warnings Targeting Young Adults in Lebanon. [2023]Waterpipe (WP) smoking is the leading tobacco use method among young adults in Lebanon. WP use is harmful, yet misperceptions about its safety exist. Implementing pictorial health warning labels (HWLs) on WP products is a promising strategy to correct this misperception. This study aimed to culturally adapt a set of 12 pictorial HWLs recently developed by an international expert panel to young adults in Lebanon. HWLs were grouped into four themes: WP health risks, WP harm to others, WP-specific harms, and WP harm compared to cigarettes.
Impact of pictorial health warning labels on smoking beliefs and perceptions among waterpipe smokers: an online randomised cross-over experimental study. [2023]Waterpipe tobacco smoking (WTS) has substantially increased among young people in Lebanon, who perceive WTS as safer than cigarettes. Health warning labels (HWLs) can inform the adverse effects associated with smoking. Thus, their application to waterpipe offers a favourable policy to limit WTS epidemic. This study assessed the effectiveness of pictorial HWLs and their placements on waterpipe parts (device, tobacco and charcoal package) on several communication outcomes.
Reactions to Pictorial and Text Cigarette Pack Warning Labels among Chinese Smokers. [2023]Objectives. This study aims at examining the impact of graphic pictorial warning labels on inten-tion to quit smoking and perceived harms among Chinese working-age adults (n = 661). Methods. A randomized controlled trial is utilized as the research design by comparing three scenarios: Group 1 as baseline (n = 193) and presented with real market tobacco products with text-only la-bels, Group 2 as price group and with hypothetical scenarios of manipulated prices, and Group 3 as the imaging group and with hypothetical scenarios of graphic pictorial cigarette warning la-bels. Both bivariate and multivariate analyses are utilized to determine the effectiveness of warn-ing labels. Results. Graphic pictorial cigarette warning labels are associated with stronger inten-tion to quit smoking and greater perceived harms. Smokers have a greater number of attempts if they are less nicotine dependent and express greater smoking risk perceptions. Conclusions. This study adds to the evidence that graphic pictorial warning labels are more effective than text-only labels in increasing intention to quit smoking. As China strives to achieve a reduction in smoking to meet the goal of the Healthy China 2030 initiative, this work strengthens the evidence base for policy makers, practitioners, and researchers to design low-cost warning labels on cigarette packs to promote tobacco control.
Comparisons between young adult waterpipe smokers and nonsmokers' reactions to pictorial health warning labels in Lebanon: a randomized crossover experimental study. [2023]This study compares the impact of pictorial health warning labels (HWLs) and their placements on waterpipe parts (device, tobacco and charcoal packages) on health communication outcomes between waterpipe smokers and nonsmokers in Lebanon. An online randomized crossover experimental study was conducted among young adults (n = 403, August 2021) who observed three conditions of HWLs: pictorial HWLs on the tobacco package, pictorial HWLs on all waterpipe's parts and text-only HWL on the tobacco package in random order. Participants completed post-exposure assessments of health communication outcomes after each image. Using linear mixed models, we examined the differences in the effect of HWL conditions on several outcomes (i.e. warning reactions) between waterpipe smokers and nonsmokers, controlling for confounders (i.e. age, sex). Nonsmokers reported greater attention (β = 0.54 [95% confidence interval: 0.25-0.82]), cognitive elaboration (0.31 [0.05-0.58]) and social interaction (0.41 [0.18-0.65]) for pictorial HWLs on the tobacco packages than text-only compared with smokers. Pictorial HWLs on three parts versus one part elicited higher cognitive reactions and perceived message effectiveness in nonsmokers compared with waterpipe smokers. These findings provide valuable information for policymakers about the potential of implementing HWLs specific to waterpipes to prevent their use among young adults and limit tobacco-related morbidity and mortality in Lebanon.