Smartphone Smoking Cessation Application (SSC App) trial

To assess the efficacy of an interactive smoking cessation decision aid app, a multi-country RCT was carried out in the USA, Australia, UK and Singapore. The decision aid application was compared with a smoking cessation static information app on continuous abstinence, both carried out on smartphones. 684 daily smokers were recruited passively from app stores and randomised to one of the apps. Both apps motivated the participant to set a quit date. The intervention app included four main components: mandatory information about quitting options, with their benefits and harms; daily motivational messages using push notifications sent from the study server; a quitting diary and a quitting benefits tracker. The decision-aid app allowed smokers to freely choose a quit method through a structured process of weighing up the available options and their benefits and harms. The majority of participants in both groups decided to quit unassisted, followed by nicotine replacement therapy. Smokers who received the decision aid app were more likely to be abstinent at 1 month and the effect was sustained at 3 & 6 months. These participants were also more likely to have made an informed choice and have lower decisional conflict. These results show that a decision aid app with specific support features can increase smoking cessation and provide an effective option to the many who are making quit decisions without healthcare professionals. Read the full article