Interactive Conversational Agents for Cigarette-Smoking and Vaping Cessation: A Mixed-Methods Systematic Review

Interactive conversational agents, also known as chatbots, have the potential to increase the success rate of digital technology interventions to promote healthy behaviors. However, due to their newness and limited use, little is known about their integration, usefulness, and effectiveness in promot...

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Main Authors: Anthony Lachance, Sié Mathieu Aymar Romaric Da, Achille Yameogo, James Plaisimond, Florian Naye, Farzaneh Yousefi, Frédéric Bergeron, Maxime Sasseville, Marie-Pierre Gagnon
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2024-11-01
Series:Multimodal Technologies and Interaction
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/2414-4088/8/11/101
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author Anthony Lachance
Sié Mathieu Aymar Romaric Da
Achille Yameogo
James Plaisimond
Florian Naye
Farzaneh Yousefi
Frédéric Bergeron
Maxime Sasseville
Marie-Pierre Gagnon
author_facet Anthony Lachance
Sié Mathieu Aymar Romaric Da
Achille Yameogo
James Plaisimond
Florian Naye
Farzaneh Yousefi
Frédéric Bergeron
Maxime Sasseville
Marie-Pierre Gagnon
author_sort Anthony Lachance
collection DOAJ
description Interactive conversational agents, also known as chatbots, have the potential to increase the success rate of digital technology interventions to promote healthy behaviors. However, due to their newness and limited use, little is known about their integration, usefulness, and effectiveness in promoting smoking and vaping cessation. The aim of this mixed-methods systematic review was to assess the effectiveness and characteristics of current interactive conversational agents in promoting and supporting smoking and vaping cessation. A mixed-methods systematic review was conducted to identify studies published in the last 20 years in five relevant databases. Eight studies, including seven on smoking cessation and one on smoking and vaping cessation, were included. The results showed that, compared to other smoking cessation methods, chatbots can lead to better engagement in treatment, resulting in higher rates of sustained abstinence and improved quality of life. In addition, chatbots can be perceived as empathetic and establish a decent therapeutic alliance thanks to their communication skills. This knowledge could be useful for the development of interactive conversational agents to support smoking and/or vaping cessation. Alternative intervention tools targeting younger generations, such as chatbots, may offer an additional way for public health professionals to reach them.
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spelling doaj-art-3a039754c5c54201baf392d2f886d7bb2025-08-20T02:04:55ZengMDPI AGMultimodal Technologies and Interaction2414-40882024-11-0181110110.3390/mti8110101Interactive Conversational Agents for Cigarette-Smoking and Vaping Cessation: A Mixed-Methods Systematic ReviewAnthony Lachance0Sié Mathieu Aymar Romaric Da1Achille Yameogo2James Plaisimond3Florian Naye4Farzaneh Yousefi5Frédéric Bergeron6Maxime Sasseville7Marie-Pierre Gagnon8Faculty of Nursing Sciences, Université Laval, 2325 Rue de l’Université, Québec, QC G1V 0A6, CanadaVITAM Research Center, 2480 Chemin de la Canardière, Québec, QC G1J 2G1, CanadaVITAM Research Center, 2480 Chemin de la Canardière, Québec, QC G1J 2G1, CanadaVITAM Research Center, 2480 Chemin de la Canardière, Québec, QC G1J 2G1, CanadaFaculty of Health Sciences, Université de Sherbrooke, 3001 12 Ave N Immeuble X1, Sherbrooke, QC J1K 2R1, CanadaFaculty of Nursing Sciences, Université Laval, 2325 Rue de l’Université, Québec, QC G1V 0A6, CanadaFaculty of Nursing Sciences, Université Laval, 2325 Rue de l’Université, Québec, QC G1V 0A6, CanadaFaculty of Nursing Sciences, Université Laval, 2325 Rue de l’Université, Québec, QC G1V 0A6, CanadaFaculty of Nursing Sciences, Université Laval, 2325 Rue de l’Université, Québec, QC G1V 0A6, CanadaInteractive conversational agents, also known as chatbots, have the potential to increase the success rate of digital technology interventions to promote healthy behaviors. However, due to their newness and limited use, little is known about their integration, usefulness, and effectiveness in promoting smoking and vaping cessation. The aim of this mixed-methods systematic review was to assess the effectiveness and characteristics of current interactive conversational agents in promoting and supporting smoking and vaping cessation. A mixed-methods systematic review was conducted to identify studies published in the last 20 years in five relevant databases. Eight studies, including seven on smoking cessation and one on smoking and vaping cessation, were included. The results showed that, compared to other smoking cessation methods, chatbots can lead to better engagement in treatment, resulting in higher rates of sustained abstinence and improved quality of life. In addition, chatbots can be perceived as empathetic and establish a decent therapeutic alliance thanks to their communication skills. This knowledge could be useful for the development of interactive conversational agents to support smoking and/or vaping cessation. Alternative intervention tools targeting younger generations, such as chatbots, may offer an additional way for public health professionals to reach them.https://www.mdpi.com/2414-4088/8/11/101conversational agentschatbotssystematic reviewcigarette-smoking cessationvaping cessation
spellingShingle Anthony Lachance
Sié Mathieu Aymar Romaric Da
Achille Yameogo
James Plaisimond
Florian Naye
Farzaneh Yousefi
Frédéric Bergeron
Maxime Sasseville
Marie-Pierre Gagnon
Interactive Conversational Agents for Cigarette-Smoking and Vaping Cessation: A Mixed-Methods Systematic Review
Multimodal Technologies and Interaction
conversational agents
chatbots
systematic review
cigarette-smoking cessation
vaping cessation
title Interactive Conversational Agents for Cigarette-Smoking and Vaping Cessation: A Mixed-Methods Systematic Review
title_full Interactive Conversational Agents for Cigarette-Smoking and Vaping Cessation: A Mixed-Methods Systematic Review
title_fullStr Interactive Conversational Agents for Cigarette-Smoking and Vaping Cessation: A Mixed-Methods Systematic Review
title_full_unstemmed Interactive Conversational Agents for Cigarette-Smoking and Vaping Cessation: A Mixed-Methods Systematic Review
title_short Interactive Conversational Agents for Cigarette-Smoking and Vaping Cessation: A Mixed-Methods Systematic Review
title_sort interactive conversational agents for cigarette smoking and vaping cessation a mixed methods systematic review
topic conversational agents
chatbots
systematic review
cigarette-smoking cessation
vaping cessation
url https://www.mdpi.com/2414-4088/8/11/101
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