Chapter 10 340 their own money and return is conditional on validated abstinence, was unpopular but resulted in a significantly higher proportion of abstinent individuals compared to the reward-based incentives arm.10 Further analysis revealed associations between personal characteristics and the acceptability and efficacy of incentive programmes.14 Both readiness-to-quit-smoking and low tendency to discount rewards were associated with increased effectiveness of both reward and deposit based programmes. Personalisation of incentive programmes thus yields the potential to further increase the effectiveness of incentives to promote long term abstinence. Here we present the study protocol for the “Personalised Incentives for Supporting Tobacco Cessation” (PERSIST) trial. The trial will be conducted among health care employees, for whom smoking cessation is particularly relevant as they may be expected to have an exemplary role. Moreover, in an attempt to work towards a smoke free generation by 2040, the Dutch National Prevention Agreement requires university hospitals to be smoke-free by mid-2020 and all health care facilities by 2025. The aim of this study is to investigate whether personalised incentives in addition to a group-based smoking cessation programme will increase sustained smoking cessation among participants. This unique randomised controlled trial (RCT) attempts to optimise effectiveness of incentive programmes by providing personalised advice while leaving participants in full control to choose the scheme of their choice. Our approach will further provide insight into which incentive schemes participants prefer and if and how they can be nudged into the programme that best fits their personal characteristics. Methods and analysis Objectives The main objective is to evaluate the effectiveness of personalised incentives in combination with group-based training sessions provided in the work environment on sustained smoking abstinence among health care workers compared to groupbased training sessions alone. Trial design The PERSIST trial is a randomised controlled non-blinded trial with two parallel arms.
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