Effectiveness of the Offer of the Smoke Free Smartphone App Compared With No Intervention for Smoking Cessation: Pragmatic Randomized Controlled Trial
BackgroundDigital technologies offer the potential for low-cost, scalable delivery of interventions to promote smoking cessation. ObjectiveWe aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of the offer of Smoke Free—an evidence-informed, widely used app—for smoking cessation...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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JMIR Publications
2024-11-01
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| Series: | Journal of Medical Internet Research |
| Online Access: | https://www.jmir.org/2024/1/e50963 |
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| author | Sarah Jackson Dimitra Kale Emma Beard Olga Perski Robert West Jamie Brown |
| author_facet | Sarah Jackson Dimitra Kale Emma Beard Olga Perski Robert West Jamie Brown |
| author_sort | Sarah Jackson |
| collection | DOAJ |
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BackgroundDigital technologies offer the potential for low-cost, scalable delivery of interventions to promote smoking cessation.
ObjectiveWe aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of the offer of Smoke Free—an evidence-informed, widely used app—for smoking cessation versus no support.
MethodsIn this 2-arm randomized controlled trial, 3143 motivated adult smokers were recruited online between August 2020 and April 2021 and randomized to receive an offer of the Smoke Free app plus follow-up (intervention arm) versus follow-up only (comparator arm). Both groups were shown a brief message at the end of the baseline questionnaire encouraging them to make a quit attempt. The primary outcome was self-reported 6-month continuous abstinence assessed 7 months after randomization. Secondary outcomes included quit attempts in the first month post randomization, 3-month continuous abstinence assessed at 4 months, and 6-month continuous abstinence at 7 months among those who made a quit attempt. The primary analysis was performed on an intention-to-treat (ITT) analysis basis. Sensitivity analyses included (1) restricting the intervention group to those who took up the offer of the app, (2) using complete cases, and (3) using multiple imputation.
ResultsThe effective follow-up rate for 7 months was 41.9%. The primary analysis showed no evidence of a benefit of the intervention on rates of 6-month continuous abstinence (intervention 6.8% vs comparator 7.0%; relative risk 0.97, 95% CI 0.75-1.26). Analyses of all secondary outcomes also showed no evidence of a benefit. Similar results were observed on complete cases and using multiple imputation. When the intervention group was restricted to those who took up the offer of the app (n=395, 25.3%), participants in the intervention group were 80% more likely to report 6-month continuous abstinence (12.7% vs 7.0%; relative risk 1.80, 95% CI 1.30-2.45). Equivalent subgroup analyses produced similar results on the secondary outcomes. These differences persisted after adjustment for key baseline characteristics.
ConclusionsAmong motivated smokers provided with very brief advice to quit, the offer of the Smoke Free app did not have a detectable benefit for cessation compared with follow-up only. However, the app increased quit rates when smokers randomized to receive the app downloaded it.
Trial RegistrationISRCTN ISRCTN85785540; https://www.isrctn.com/ISRCTN85785540
International Registered Report Identifier (IRRID)RR2-https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/add.14652 |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-523bfa8c697142199b113ec09cc5c6f3 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 1438-8871 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2024-11-01 |
| publisher | JMIR Publications |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Journal of Medical Internet Research |
| spelling | doaj-art-523bfa8c697142199b113ec09cc5c6f32024-11-15T15:45:54ZengJMIR PublicationsJournal of Medical Internet Research1438-88712024-11-0126e5096310.2196/50963Effectiveness of the Offer of the Smoke Free Smartphone App Compared With No Intervention for Smoking Cessation: Pragmatic Randomized Controlled TrialSarah Jacksonhttps://orcid.org/0000-0001-5658-6168Dimitra Kalehttps://orcid.org/0000-0002-8845-7114Emma Beardhttps://orcid.org/0000-0001-8586-1261Olga Perskihttps://orcid.org/0000-0003-3285-3174Robert Westhttps://orcid.org/0000-0001-6398-0921Jamie Brownhttps://orcid.org/0000-0002-2797-5428 BackgroundDigital technologies offer the potential for low-cost, scalable delivery of interventions to promote smoking cessation. ObjectiveWe aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of the offer of Smoke Free—an evidence-informed, widely used app—for smoking cessation versus no support. MethodsIn this 2-arm randomized controlled trial, 3143 motivated adult smokers were recruited online between August 2020 and April 2021 and randomized to receive an offer of the Smoke Free app plus follow-up (intervention arm) versus follow-up only (comparator arm). Both groups were shown a brief message at the end of the baseline questionnaire encouraging them to make a quit attempt. The primary outcome was self-reported 6-month continuous abstinence assessed 7 months after randomization. Secondary outcomes included quit attempts in the first month post randomization, 3-month continuous abstinence assessed at 4 months, and 6-month continuous abstinence at 7 months among those who made a quit attempt. The primary analysis was performed on an intention-to-treat (ITT) analysis basis. Sensitivity analyses included (1) restricting the intervention group to those who took up the offer of the app, (2) using complete cases, and (3) using multiple imputation. ResultsThe effective follow-up rate for 7 months was 41.9%. The primary analysis showed no evidence of a benefit of the intervention on rates of 6-month continuous abstinence (intervention 6.8% vs comparator 7.0%; relative risk 0.97, 95% CI 0.75-1.26). Analyses of all secondary outcomes also showed no evidence of a benefit. Similar results were observed on complete cases and using multiple imputation. When the intervention group was restricted to those who took up the offer of the app (n=395, 25.3%), participants in the intervention group were 80% more likely to report 6-month continuous abstinence (12.7% vs 7.0%; relative risk 1.80, 95% CI 1.30-2.45). Equivalent subgroup analyses produced similar results on the secondary outcomes. These differences persisted after adjustment for key baseline characteristics. ConclusionsAmong motivated smokers provided with very brief advice to quit, the offer of the Smoke Free app did not have a detectable benefit for cessation compared with follow-up only. However, the app increased quit rates when smokers randomized to receive the app downloaded it. Trial RegistrationISRCTN ISRCTN85785540; https://www.isrctn.com/ISRCTN85785540 International Registered Report Identifier (IRRID)RR2-https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/add.14652https://www.jmir.org/2024/1/e50963 |
| spellingShingle | Sarah Jackson Dimitra Kale Emma Beard Olga Perski Robert West Jamie Brown Effectiveness of the Offer of the Smoke Free Smartphone App Compared With No Intervention for Smoking Cessation: Pragmatic Randomized Controlled Trial Journal of Medical Internet Research |
| title | Effectiveness of the Offer of the Smoke Free Smartphone App Compared With No Intervention for Smoking Cessation: Pragmatic Randomized Controlled Trial |
| title_full | Effectiveness of the Offer of the Smoke Free Smartphone App Compared With No Intervention for Smoking Cessation: Pragmatic Randomized Controlled Trial |
| title_fullStr | Effectiveness of the Offer of the Smoke Free Smartphone App Compared With No Intervention for Smoking Cessation: Pragmatic Randomized Controlled Trial |
| title_full_unstemmed | Effectiveness of the Offer of the Smoke Free Smartphone App Compared With No Intervention for Smoking Cessation: Pragmatic Randomized Controlled Trial |
| title_short | Effectiveness of the Offer of the Smoke Free Smartphone App Compared With No Intervention for Smoking Cessation: Pragmatic Randomized Controlled Trial |
| title_sort | effectiveness of the offer of the smoke free smartphone app compared with no intervention for smoking cessation pragmatic randomized controlled trial |
| url | https://www.jmir.org/2024/1/e50963 |
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