scholarly journals Mobile Social Network–Based Smoking Cessation Intervention for Chinese Male Smokers: Pilot Randomized Controlled Trial (Preprint)

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jinsong Chen ◽  
Elsie Ho ◽  
Yannan Jiang ◽  
Robyn Whittaker ◽  
Tingzhong Yang ◽  
...  

BACKGROUND Around 2 million Chinese people, mostly men, die annually from tobacco-related diseases; yet, fewer than 8% of Chinese smokers ever receive any smoking cessation support. OBJECTIVE This study aimed to test the preliminary effectiveness and feasibility for a mobile social network (WeChat)–based smoking cessation intervention (SCAMPI program) among Chinese male smokers. METHODS Chinese male smokers aged 25-44 years were recruited online from WeChat, the most widely used social media platform in China. Individuals using other smoking cessation interventions or who lacked capacity to provide online informed consent were excluded. Participants were randomly assigned (1:1) to intervention or control groups. Neither participants nor researchers were masked to assignment. The trial was fully online. All data were collected via WeChat. The intervention group received access to the full-version SCAMPI program, a Chinese-language smoking cessation program based on the Behaviour Change Wheel framework and relevant cessation guidelines. Specific intervention functions used in the program include: planning to help users make quitting plans, calculator to record quitting benefits, calendar to record progress, gamification to facilitate quitting, information about smoking harms, motivational messages to help users overcome urges, standardized tests for users to assess their levels of nicotine dependence and lung health, as well as a social platform to encourage social support between users. The control group had access to a static WeChat page of contacts for standard smoking cessation care. Both groups received incentive credit payments for participating. The primary outcome was 30-day biochemically verified smoking abstinence at 6 weeks after randomization, with missing data treated as not quitting. Secondary outcomes were other smoking status measures, reduction of cigarette consumption, study feasibility (recruitment and retention rate), and acceptability of and satisfaction with the program. RESULTS The program recorded 5736 visitors over a 13-day recruitment period. We recruited 80 participants who were randomly allocated to two arms (n=40 per arm). At 6 weeks, 36 of 40 (90%) intervention participants and 35 of 40 (88%) control participants provided complete self-reported data on their daily smoking status via WeChat. Biochemically verified smoking abstinence at 6 weeks was determined for 10 of 40 (25%) intervention participants and 2 of 40 (5%) control participants (RR=5, 95% CI 1.2-21.4, <i>P</i>=.03). In the intervention group, the calculator function, motivational messages, and health tests were underused (less than once per week per users). Participants rated their satisfaction with the intervention program as 4.56 out of 5.00. CONCLUSIONS Our program is a novel, accessible, and acceptable smoking cessation intervention for Chinese male smokers. A future trial with a greater sample size and longer follow-up will identify if it is as effective as these preliminary data suggest. CLINICALTRIAL ANZCTR registry, ACTRN12618001089224; https://tinyurl.com/y536n7sx INTERNATIONAL REGISTERED REPORT RR2-18071

10.2196/17522 ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (10) ◽  
pp. e17522
Author(s):  
Jinsong Chen ◽  
Elsie Ho ◽  
Yannan Jiang ◽  
Robyn Whittaker ◽  
Tingzhong Yang ◽  
...  

Background Around 2 million Chinese people, mostly men, die annually from tobacco-related diseases; yet, fewer than 8% of Chinese smokers ever receive any smoking cessation support. Objective This study aimed to test the preliminary effectiveness and feasibility for a mobile social network (WeChat)–based smoking cessation intervention (SCAMPI program) among Chinese male smokers. Methods Chinese male smokers aged 25-44 years were recruited online from WeChat, the most widely used social media platform in China. Individuals using other smoking cessation interventions or who lacked capacity to provide online informed consent were excluded. Participants were randomly assigned (1:1) to intervention or control groups. Neither participants nor researchers were masked to assignment. The trial was fully online. All data were collected via WeChat. The intervention group received access to the full-version SCAMPI program, a Chinese-language smoking cessation program based on the Behaviour Change Wheel framework and relevant cessation guidelines. Specific intervention functions used in the program include: planning to help users make quitting plans, calculator to record quitting benefits, calendar to record progress, gamification to facilitate quitting, information about smoking harms, motivational messages to help users overcome urges, standardized tests for users to assess their levels of nicotine dependence and lung health, as well as a social platform to encourage social support between users. The control group had access to a static WeChat page of contacts for standard smoking cessation care. Both groups received incentive credit payments for participating. The primary outcome was 30-day biochemically verified smoking abstinence at 6 weeks after randomization, with missing data treated as not quitting. Secondary outcomes were other smoking status measures, reduction of cigarette consumption, study feasibility (recruitment and retention rate), and acceptability of and satisfaction with the program. Results The program recorded 5736 visitors over a 13-day recruitment period. We recruited 80 participants who were randomly allocated to two arms (n=40 per arm). At 6 weeks, 36 of 40 (90%) intervention participants and 35 of 40 (88%) control participants provided complete self-reported data on their daily smoking status via WeChat. Biochemically verified smoking abstinence at 6 weeks was determined for 10 of 40 (25%) intervention participants and 2 of 40 (5%) control participants (RR=5, 95% CI 1.2-21.4, P=.03). In the intervention group, the calculator function, motivational messages, and health tests were underused (less than once per week per users). Participants rated their satisfaction with the intervention program as 4.56 out of 5.00. Conclusions Our program is a novel, accessible, and acceptable smoking cessation intervention for Chinese male smokers. A future trial with a greater sample size and longer follow-up will identify if it is as effective as these preliminary data suggest. Trial Registration ANZCTR registry, ACTRN12618001089224; https://tinyurl.com/y536n7sx International Registered Report Identifier (IRRID) RR2-18071


10.2196/18071 ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (9) ◽  
pp. e18071 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jinsong Chen ◽  
Elsie Ho ◽  
Yannan Jiang ◽  
Robyn Whittaker ◽  
Tingzhong Yang ◽  
...  

Background Approximately 2 million Chinese people die annually from tobacco-related diseases, mostly men; yet, fewer than 8% of Chinese smokers ever receive any smoking cessation advice or support. A social network–based gamified smoking cessation intervention (SCAMPI: Smoking Cessation App for Chinese Male: Pilot Intervention) is designed to help Chinese male smokers to quit smoking. Objective This paper aims to present the protocol of a study examining the preliminary effectiveness of SCAMPI by comparing the prolonged abstinence rate of a group of users with a comparator group during a 6-week follow-up period. Methods A two-arm pilot randomized controlled trial was conducted to assess the preliminary effectiveness and acceptability of the SCAMPI program as a smoking cessation intervention. After initial web-based screening, the first 80 eligible individuals who had gone through the required registration process were registered as participants of the trial. Participants were randomly allocated to the intervention group (n=40) and the control group (n=40). Participants in the intervention group used the full version of the SCAMPI program, which is a Chinese smoking cessation program developed based on the Behavior Change Wheel framework and relevant smoking cessation and design guidelines with involvement of target users. The program delivers a range of smoking cessation approaches, including helping users to make quitting plans, calculator to record quitting benefits, calendar to record progress, gamification to facilitate quitting, providing information about smoking harms, motivational messages to help users overcome urges, providing standardized tests to users for assessing their levels of nicotine dependence and lung health, and providing a platform to encourage social support between users. Participants in the control group used the restricted version of the SCAMPI program (placebo app). Results Recruitment for this project commenced in January 2019 and proceeded until March 2019. Follow-up data collection was commenced and completed by June 2019. The primary outcome measure of the study was the 30-day bio-verified smoking abstinence at the 6-week follow-up (self-reported data verified by the Nicotine Cotinine Saliva Test). The secondary outcome measures of the study included participants’ cigarette consumption reduction (compared baseline daily cigarette consumption with end-of-trial daily cigarette consumption), participants’ 7-day smoking abstinence at 4-week and 6-week follow-up (self-reported), participants’ 30-day smoking abstinence at 6-week follow-up (self-reported data only), and participants’ acceptability and satisfaction levels of using the SCAMPI program (measured by the Mobile App Rating Scale questionnaire). Conclusions If the SCAMPI program is shown to be preliminary effective, the study will be rolled out to be a future trial with a larger sample size and longer follow-up (6 months) to identify if it is an effective social network–based tool to support Chinese male smokers to quit smoking. Trial Registration Australian New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry ACTRN12618001089224; https://www.anzctr.org.au/Trial/Registration/TrialReview.aspx?id=375381 International Registered Report Identifier (IRRID) RR1-10.2196/18071


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jinsong Chen ◽  
Elsie Ho ◽  
Yannan Jiang ◽  
Robyn Whittaker ◽  
Tingzhong Yang ◽  
...  

BACKGROUND Approximately 2 million Chinese people die annually from tobacco-related diseases, mostly men; yet, fewer than 8% of Chinese smokers ever receive any smoking cessation advice or support. A social network–based gamified smoking cessation intervention (<i>SCAMPI: Smoking Cessation App for Chinese Male: Pilot Intervention</i>) is designed to help Chinese male smokers to quit smoking. OBJECTIVE This paper aims to present the protocol of a study examining the preliminary effectiveness of SCAMPI by comparing the prolonged abstinence rate of a group of users with a comparator group during a 6-week follow-up period. METHODS A two-arm pilot randomized controlled trial was conducted to assess the preliminary effectiveness and acceptability of the SCAMPI program as a smoking cessation intervention. After initial web-based screening, the first 80 eligible individuals who had gone through the required registration process were registered as participants of the trial. Participants were randomly allocated to the intervention group (n=40) and the control group (n=40). Participants in the intervention group used the full version of the SCAMPI program, which is a Chinese smoking cessation program developed based on the Behavior Change Wheel framework and relevant smoking cessation and design guidelines with involvement of target users. The program delivers a range of smoking cessation approaches, including helping users to make quitting plans, calculator to record quitting benefits, calendar to record progress, gamification to facilitate quitting, providing information about smoking harms, motivational messages to help users overcome urges, providing standardized tests to users for assessing their levels of nicotine dependence and lung health, and providing a platform to encourage social support between users. Participants in the control group used the restricted version of the SCAMPI program (<i>placebo app</i>). RESULTS Recruitment for this project commenced in January 2019 and proceeded until March 2019. Follow-up data collection was commenced and completed by June 2019. The primary outcome measure of the study was the 30-day bio-verified smoking abstinence at the 6-week follow-up (self-reported data verified by the Nicotine Cotinine Saliva Test). The secondary outcome measures of the study included participants’ cigarette consumption reduction (compared baseline daily cigarette consumption with end-of-trial daily cigarette consumption), participants’ 7-day smoking abstinence at 4-week and 6-week follow-up (self-reported), participants’ 30-day smoking abstinence at 6-week follow-up (self-reported data only), and participants’ acceptability and satisfaction levels of using the SCAMPI program (measured by the Mobile App Rating Scale questionnaire). CONCLUSIONS If the SCAMPI program is shown to be preliminary effective, the study will be rolled out to be a future trial with a larger sample size and longer follow-up (6 months) to identify if it is an effective social network–based tool to support Chinese male smokers to quit smoking. CLINICALTRIAL Australian New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry ACTRN12618001089224; https://www.anzctr.org.au/Trial/Registration/TrialReview.aspx?id=375381 INTERNATIONAL REGISTERED REPORT RR1-10.2196/18071


BMJ Open ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (11) ◽  
pp. e040117
Author(s):  
Carole Clair ◽  
Aurélie Augsburger ◽  
Priska Birrer ◽  
Isabella Locatelli ◽  
Joelle Schwarz ◽  
...  

IntroductionFew studies have assessed the efficacy of smoking cessation interventions in individuals with type 2 diabetes, but interventions adapted to the specific needs of this population are warranted. The aim of this study is to assess the efficacy of a smoking cessation intervention in a population of smokers with type 2 diabetes and to measure the metabolic impact of smoking cessation.Methods and analysisThe study is an open-label, randomised control trial. Participants recruited from a sanitary region of Switzerland will be randomly allocated to either the intervention or the control arm. The intervention group will have four individual counselling sessions over 12 weeks. Trained research nurses will conduct the behavioural intervention, using motivational interviews and addressing diabetes and gender specificities. The control group will have one short counselling session at baseline and will be given written information on smoking cessation. Both groups will have a follow-up visit at 26 and 52 weeks. Demographic and medical data will be collected at baseline and follow-up, along with blood and urine samples. The primary study outcome is continuous smoking abstinence validated by expired-air carbon monoxide from week 12 to week 52. Secondary study outcomes are continuous and 7-day point prevalence smoking abstinence at 12 and 26 weeks; change in motivation to quit and cigarette consumption; and change in glycosylated haemoglobin levels, body weight, waist circumference and renal function after smoking cessation. In a subsample of 80 participants, change in stool microbiota from baseline will be measured at 3, 8 and 26 weeks after smoking cessation.Ethics and disseminationEthical approval has been obtained by the competent ethics committee (Commission cantonale d’éthique de la recherche sur l’être humain, CER-VD 2017–00812). The results of the study will be disseminated through publications in peer-reviewed journals and conference presentations.Trial registration numbersClinicalTrials.gov NCT03426423 and SNCTP000002762; Pre-results.


Author(s):  
Charmaine Chan ◽  
Kristyn Kamke ◽  
Freda Assuah ◽  
Sherine El-Toukhy

Abstract Although text-messaging interventions are effective for smoking cessation, few target teens in the USA and little is known about their effectiveness. The purpose of this manuscript is to examine correlates of dropout, response to smoking status prompts, and abstinence rates among subscribers of SmokeFreeTeen, a free, publicly available text-messaging smoking cessation intervention sponsored by the National Cancer Institute’s SmokeFree.Gov initiative, on quit day through 1 month follow-up. In a sample of teens (N = 2,685), aged 13–19, we examined demographics, smoking frequency, cigarettes smoked per day, prequit intervention time (i.e., maximum of 14 days of prequit day preparation), and number of quit attempts as correlates of response and abstinence rates among program initiators (i.e., participants who reached quit day but dropped out on or before intervention end) and completers (i.e., participants who reached quit day and completed the intervention). We also conducted Cox regression analysis of time from quit day to dropout by daily and nondaily smoking status. Two-thirds (n = 1,733, 64.54%) dropped out before the intervention ended, with dropout rates peaking on quit day (n = 289, 13.10%). Response rate to smoking status prompts remained below 30% throughout the intervention. At intervention end and 1 month follow-up, abstinence was 2.63% and 2.55% among program initiators, whereas abstinence was 6.09% and 6.01% among program completers. Dropout, response, and abstinence rates did not consistently differ by subscriber characteristics. Prequit time was associated with decreased likelihood of dropping out (adjusted hazards ratio: 0.94, confidence interval [CI]: 0.93–0.95), responding to smoking status prompts (adjusted odds ratio [aOR]: 0.94, CI: 0.92–0.96), and being abstinent (aOR: 0.96, CI: 0.93–0.99) on quit day. Two or more quit attempts were associated with increased response (aOR: 1.61, CI: 1.16–2.23) and abstinence (aOR: 1.91, CI: 1.25–2.92) rates on Day 7. In a first assessment of SmokeFreeTeen outcomes, we document high dropouts and low response and abstinence rates. SmokeFreeTeen produced abstinence rates lower than comparable text-messaging interventions targeting teens and young adults. Improving SmokeFreeTeen’s reach, engagement, and effectiveness is needed.


2013 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 76-84
Author(s):  
Jenny Bowman ◽  
Amanda Fletcher ◽  
John Wiggers ◽  
Amy Anderson ◽  
Kathleen McElwaine ◽  
...  

Smoking cessation interventions during routine clinical encounters by health professionals have the potential to reach smokers and facilitate cessation. Although psychologists might appear to be ideal providers of such interventions, international research suggests that their provision is limited. This paper reports the results of a survey conducted in NSW, Australia, of psychologists’ (n = 72) smoking intervention practices, attitudes, and barriers to providing such care. Less than half of the respondents reported assessing smoking status for ‘all or nearly all’ of their clients. Across a range of smoking cessation intervention types, the most frequent response given indicated provision to ‘none or almost none’ of clients who smoked. Only 13% of respondents indicated even ‘advising cessation’ to ‘all or nearly all’ of their smoking clients. Barriers included concern about negative influence on the therapeutic relationship, inadequacy of training and lack of confidence to intervene. Respondents were less likely to provide intervention for smoking than for cannabis, methamphetamine ‘ice’, and alcohol. The study suggests that the potential of Australian psychologists to assist smokers to quit is not being realised, and that there is a need to address the barriers to care provision.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ivan Bindoff ◽  
Tristan R Ling ◽  
Peter Gee ◽  
Benjamin Geelan ◽  
Stuart G Ferguson ◽  
...  

BACKGROUND Numerous mobile health (mHealth) apps have been developed to support smokers attempting to quit smoking. Although these apps have been reported to be successful, only modest improvements in the quit rate have been measured. It has been proposed that efforts to improve user engagement and retention may improve the quit rate further. Owing to the high cost of smoking-related disease, it is considered worthwhile to pursue even small improvements. OBJECTIVE The aim of this study was to test a novel smartphone app that leverages premium currency strategies developed by the mobile games industry in an attempt to improve engagement and retention with a smoking cessation intervention. METHODS We designed and developed a smoking cessation app called “Quittr” in line with previously developed smoking cessation mHealth apps. In addition to this established framework, we added a stand-alone fully featured city-building clicker-style game called “Tappy Town,” and a premium virtual currency called “QuitCoins.” The user earns QuitCoins for using the app in a way that contributes positively toward their quit attempt, and they can redeem these coins in Tappy Town for bonuses. To establish whether these features improved engagement and retention, we ran a 5-month randomized controlled trial where the intervention group had the full app with the extra games features, while the control group had the standard app only. Recruitment was performed via web-based advertising. Participants (N=175) had no direct contact with the researchers or other support staff. RESULTS No significant differences in terms of engagement, retention, or smoking outcomes were found between the control and intervention groups. However, survey data indicated that the majority of the participants valued Tappy Town (10/17, 59%) and the QuitCoins rewards system (13/17, 77%). Usage data also suggested that Tappy Town was widely played and was generally appealing to users (mean total time spent in app, control group: 797 seconds vs intervention group: 3502 seconds, <i>P&lt;</i>.001). Analysis of the results suggests that users in the intervention group may have been negatively affected by the aspects of the chosen design, and some theories were explored to explain this unexpected outcome. CONCLUSIONS Although the novel features of the Quittr app failed to improve the key outcomes measured in this study, there were enough positive indications to warrant further exploration of the concept. Additional research will be required to identify and correct any design flaws that may have adversely affected our participants before a follow-up study can be completed. CLINICALTRIAL Australian and New Zealand Clinical Trials Register ACTRN12617000491369; https://www.anzctr.org.au/Trial/Registration/TrialReview.aspx?id=372661&amp;isReview=true


2021 ◽  
pp. BJGP.2020.0906
Author(s):  
Rukshar K. Gobarani ◽  
Nicholas A. Zwar ◽  
Grant Russell ◽  
Michael J. Abramson ◽  
Billie Bonevski ◽  
...  

Background: General practitioners have limited capacity to routinely provide smoking cessation support. New strategies are needed to reach all smokers within this setting. Aim: Evaluate the effect of a pharmacist-coordinated interdisciplinary smoking cessation intervention delivered in Australian general practice. Design: Secondary analysis of a cluster RCT conducted in 41 Australian general practices. Methods: 690 current smokers were included in this study; 373 from intervention clinics (N=21) and 317 from control clinics (N=18). A total of 166 current smokers had spirometry confirmed COPD. In the intervention clinics, trained pharmacists provided smoking cessation support, plus Quitline referral. Control clinics provided usual care plus Quitline referral. Those with COPD in the intervention group (n=84) were referred for Home Medicines Review (HMR) and home-based pulmonary rehabilitation (HomeBase) which included further smoking cessation support. Outcomes included carbon monoxide (CO) validated smoking abstinence, self-reported utilisation of smoking cessation aids and differences between groups in readiness to quit score at 6 months. Results: Intention-to-treat analysis showed similar CO-validated abstinence rates at 6 months in the intervention (4.0%) and control clinics (3.5%) and no differences were observed in readiness to quit scores between groups. CO-validated abstinence rates were similar in those who completed HMR and six sessions of HomeBase compared to those with COPD in usual care. Conclusion: A pharmacist-coordinated interdisciplinary smoking cessation intervention when integrated in a general practice setting had no advantages over usual care. Further research is needed to evaluate the effect of HMR and home-based pulmonary rehabilitation on smoking abstinence in smokers with COPD.


2019 ◽  
Vol 22 (9) ◽  
pp. 1614-1621 ◽  
Author(s):  
Erin A Vogel ◽  
Danielle E Ramo ◽  
Meredith C Meacham ◽  
Judith J Prochaska ◽  
Kevin L Delucchi ◽  
...  

Abstract Introduction This trial investigated whether a Facebook smoking cessation intervention culturally tailored to young sexual and gender minority (SGM) smokers (versus non-tailored) would increase smoking abstinence. Methods Participants were 165 SGM young adult US smokers (age 18–25) recruited from Facebook in April 2018 and randomized to an SGM-tailored (POP; N = 84) or non-tailored (TSP-SGM; N = 81) intervention. Interventions delivered weekly live counseling sessions and 90 daily Facebook posts to participants in Facebook groups. Primary analyses compared POP and TSP-SGM on biochemically verified smoking abstinence (yes/no; primary outcome), self-reported 7-day point prevalence abstinence (yes/no), reduction in cigarettes per week by 50+% from baseline (yes/no), making a quit attempt during treatment (yes/no), and stage of change (precontemplation/contemplation vs. preparation/action). Supplemental analyses compared POP to two historical control groups. Results POP participants were more likely than TSP-SGM participants to report smoking abstinence at 3 (23.8% vs. 12.3%; OR = 2.50; p = .03) and 6 months (34.5% vs. 12.3%; OR = 4.06; p &lt; .001) and reduction in smoking at 3 months (52.4% vs. 39.5%; OR = 2.11; p = .03). Biochemically verified smoking abstinence did not significantly differ between POP and TSP-SGM at 3 (OR = 2.00; p = .33) or 6 months (OR = 3.12; p = .08), potentially due to challenges with remote biochemical verification. In supplemental analyses, POP participants were more likely to report abstinence at 3 (OR = 6.82, p = .01) and 6 (OR = 2.75, p = .03) months and reduced smoking at 3 months (OR = 2.72, p = .01) than participants who received a referral to Smokefree.gov. Conclusions This pilot study provides preliminary support for the effectiveness of a Facebook smoking cessation intervention tailored to SGM young adults. Implications SGM individuals have disproportionately high smoking prevalence. It is unclear whether smoking cessation interventions culturally tailored to the SGM community are more effective than non-tailored interventions. This pilot trial found preliminary evidence that an SGM-tailored Facebook smoking cessation intervention increased reported abstinence from smoking, compared to a non-tailored intervention. Trial Registration NCT03259360.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document