Examining the effect of waterpipe specific pictorial health warning labels among young adults in Lebanon and Tunisia: Protocol of a factorial experiment study design

Background: 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.